Hrank Dink was subject to a heavy attack by nationalist elements during the events leading to his assassination. In one of his articles where he criticized the racist attitude of some segments of the Armenian diaspora, a trope was deliberately distorted, and he was consequently labeled a "Turkish enemy" and became the target of lawsuits. As a result, in the wake of the assassination, almost everyone thought that some secret nationalist group was involved in the incident. Then, the Ergenekon investigation was launched with the legitimacy provided by the public outrage which had been incited by Dink's murder. The Ergenekon investigation was the first and most far-reaching by which the Gülenist infiltrators in the police and judiciary began shaping the country's politics.
Let us take the story from the top. In 2004, Yasin Hayal, who incited Ogün Samast to assassinate Dink, bombed a McDonald's restaurant in Trabzon. For a while, Erhan Tuncel, who was later proven to have given the explosive device to Hayal during the attack, could not be "found" to give testimony. Just 23 days after the bombing, Tuncel, whom the police could not find, was engaged as a police informer with the approval of Ramazan Akyürek, the then police chief of Trabzon. He was absolved of standing trial for his terrorist act and was released within 11 months. Thus, both these individuals were free to play a central role in the Dink murder.
It is no longer a secret that Akyürek is one of the senior police chiefs affiliated with the parallel structure. Interestingly enough, the following year, Akyürek was promoted to head of police intelligence, despite a number of scandals during his tenure. For example, a McDonald's restaurant was bombed, leftist members of the Prisoners' Families Solidarity Association (TAYAD) were repeatedly beaten, and Father Andrea Santoro was killed, despite undergoing legal proceedings at Trabzon Police Department. During Akyürek's tenure, some 20 notifications were received reporting that Dink would be murdered. However, no measures were taken. According to the Hrant Dink murder case lawyer, Fethiye Çetin, Akyürek had some documents destroyed while he was Trabzon police chief. Additionally, information surfaced last year that just six days before he was dismissed from police intelligence, he had log records deleted.
These are not the only records that were deleted under the management of Gülenist police chiefs regarding the Dink assassination. Critical evidence including the footage captured by Akbank's surveillance camera and telephone calls of Yasin Hayal on the day of murder were also obliterated. If the Hrant Dink murder was incited by Ergenekon, as alleged, then why did these police chiefs, who are proud of eliminating Ergenekon, not protect relevant evidence instead of destroying it?
Even though the indignation caused by the Hrant Dink murder case provided legitimacy to launch the Ergenekon investigation, the Gülenist prosecutors who carried out the investigation somehow avoided dealing jointly with the Hrant Dink assassination and the Ergenekon case. The Hrant Dink murder case was persistently attributed only to a shooter and two instigators, as if the investigators were afraid of disclosing the organization behind the incident.
Additionally, for four years, Muammer Akkaş, who is one of the prosecutors of the December 17 and December 25 cases, ruled the files of suspected public officials as the most critical part of the Dink case. More precisely, he did not rule on this questioning process, since it would point the finger at Gülenist police chiefs such as Ramazan Akyürek and Ali Fuat Yılmazer as primary suspects.
Is it a coincidence that we always face the same answer whenever we ask these questions: Upon whose instructions did the perpetrators of the Dink assassination act? And who blocked the investigation during the legal process?
About the author
Hilal Kaplan is a journalist and columnist. Kaplan is also board member of TRT, the national public broadcaster of Turkey.
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