Ogun Samast's presence in Istanbul was known two days prior to Dink murder

PanARMENIAN.Net - A new document that may deepen the investigation into the Hrant Dink assassination has been submitted to court by Trabzon's former police chief and current head of intelligence for the Police Department, Radikal Turkish newspaper reported.



The document, sent by Ramazan Akyurek, features an intelligence report on assassination suspect Ogun Samast that shows he was under surveillance when he arrived in Istanbul. The document reads: "His friends greeted Ogun Samast when he came to Istanbul." If the document is genuine, it proves that Samast's presence in Istanbul was known two days prior to the murder.



The existence of the document was revealed to the public by Bahri Belen, one of the Dink family's lawyers, on CNN Turk's "Tarafsiz Bolge" (Neutral Zone) show Tuesday night. Another guest of the show was Nedim Sener, author of the book "Hrant Dink Cinayeti ve Istihbarat Yalanları" (The Hrant Dink Murder and Intelligence Lies). Sener reminded that in the report, Akyurek was blamed by the Prime Ministry's investigation committee for neglecting his duty, and responded to new questions on this recent development.



Sener said security forces were confessing their guilt and continued, "If they knew he met with his friends, which branch of the intelligence was following [him]? What type of data does Ramazan Akyurek have to be able to know this?"



Journalist Oral Calislar, another guest of the show, said this was a very important document and added, "If you knew when the man who would commit the murder arrived in Istanbul, met with his friends, you actually knew about the murder. If a government knew of a murder [before] the murder was committed, then how can you put this to words?"



Hrant Dink (September 15, 1954 - January 19, 2007) was a Turkish-Armenian journalist and editor-in-chief of Agos Istanbul-based bilingual newspaper. Dink was best known for advocating Turkish-Armenian reconciliation and human and minority rights in Turkey. Charged under the notorious article 301 of the Turkish Criminal Code, Dink stood a trial for insulting Turkishness. After numerous death threats, Hrant Dink was assassinated in Istanbul in January 2007, by Ogün Samast, a 17-year-old Turkish nationalist.