Turkish court to hear 51 witnesses on Hrant Dink caseJanuary 21, 2017 - 12:38 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - An Istanbul court on Friday, January 20 ruled to hear 51 more people in the case of Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was assassinated in 2007, DHA reported. According to the decision, which came on the 10th anniversary of the assassination, the court will hear 51 witnesses including former Interior Minister Muammer Guler, former police chiefs Hanefi Avci, Emin Arslan, Bulent Koksal, Recep Guven and Selim Kutkan, and journalist Nedim Sener. The court also denied requests for the release of former police chiefs Ali Fuat Yilmazer and Ramazan Akyurek. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for February 6, Turkish Minute says. During a commemoration ceremony for Dink on the 10th anniversary of his assassination, his wife Rakel Dink said in İstanbul that the perpetrator of the murder was the state since the case has not yet been solved. “Obviously the perpetrator of this murder was the state with its all layers. The people do not need anything more to realize this, having seen all the disgraceful things that have unfolded in the last 10 years,” Rakel Dink said, adding that the state must cleanse itself of the rotten apples. Dink, then editor-in-chief of the Agos weekly, was killed by a 17-year-old named Ogun Samast, who came from Trabzon province to kill him after a systematic smear campaign had been waged against Dink due to remarks on the Armenian Genocide of 1915. The state is accused of negligence, not providing him security and even threatening him through undercover intelligence officials before his assassination. Top stories Six total incidents have burned 19 old-growth trees. Friday night 8 trees were torched along the beautiful main entrance. The EU does not intend to conduct military exercises with Armenia, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano says. Hikmet Hajiyev has said that there is no place for USAID operation in Azerbaijan any longer. A telephone conversation between Putin and Pashinyan before the CSTO summit is not planned, Peskov says. Partner news | Czech-Armenian military cooperation discussed in Yerevan A delegation led by the Director General for the Industrial Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic visited Armenia. Ex-Karabakh leader moved to solitary confinement cell in Baku, his son says David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. Freedom House concerned by mounting reports of police violence in Armenia Freedom House urged Armenian authorities to investigate this pattern of excessive force and inhumane treatment. CSTO recognizes Armenia’s sovereign right to withdraw Tasmagambetov has said that if Armenia decides to leave the organization, “it will be the sovereign right of Armenia.” |