Dink assassination committed by Ergenekon's Trabzon cell – prosecutor

PanARMENIAN.Net - A Turkish prosecutor conducting the investigation into the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist, Agos weekly editor-in-chief Hrant Dink said that the murder was committed by Ergenekon's cell in the Black Sea province of Trabzon.

Today's Zaman reports that prosecutor Hikmet Usta announced his opinion as to who masterminded the assassination and as to the accusations directed at suspects during the 20th hearing of the 20-suspect Dink trial at the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court. The prosecutor said the murder was the work of Ergenekon's Trabzon cell and demanded life imprisonment for seven suspects, including key suspects Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel, on charges of attempting to destroy the constitutional order.

“The Dink assassination was the latest assassination of the deep structures. The suspects acted on ideological motives. The target was the Turkish Republic and public order. There is suspicion that the murder is linked to the Ergenekon network. We have reached the conclusion that the Dink murder was committed by the Trabzon cell of the Ergenekon terrorist organization,” Prosecutor Usta said.

During the September 19 hearing, lawyers representing the Dink family said they had reached new and crucial evidence about the murder and requested the prosecutor delay announcing his opinion for further investigation into the newly emerged evidence. However, the prosecutor denied their request and the lawyers left the courtroom in protest.

In June, the Trabzon 2nd Criminal Court of Peace convicted six of eight suspects in a negligence case over the prevention of Dink's murder, a rare positive development since the start of the trial four years ago. The court handed down prison sentences of six months each for Trabzon army commander Col. Ali Öz and army intelligence unit director Capt. Metin Yıldız.

In this regard, the Dink family's lawyers say that although the decision was welcome, it was unlikely to be a groundbreaking ruling in the course of the main trial in Istanbul. They had demanded the prison sentences be based on accomplice charges and that the military men be tried in the Istanbul court as primary suspects.