Parliamentary Investigation Finds No Further Evidence in Dink Murder Case

Ayse Jale Agirbas is an MP for the Democratic Left Party (DSP) and member of the subcommittee of the Parliamentarian Human Rights Investigating Commission which is investigating the murder of Hrant Dink and the investigation into the murder.

"Nothing new"

She told bianet that nothing new has come out of an interview the committee held with Istanbul's Governor Muammer Güler and his deputy Ergün Güngör on Thursday (3 January):

"We asked Istanbul Governor Muammer Güler questions concerning negligence. He gave us information about the event from the beginning, in the form of headings. Because we are still at the investigation stage, it is difficult to come to any conclusions. There are also the Ankara and Trabzon connections. We need to look at all the connections, and will prepare a report when the investigation has been concluded."

Ergin Cinmen, a joint attorney in the Dink case, told bianet that, had he been present at the meeting with the Governor, he would have asked Güler why he had felt the need to call Hrant Dink for a talk. "We don't know whether Güler was asked this."

Agirbas said that Güler and Güngör were "aware of the issues". The subcommittee also said that some people who had been on duty in the Trabzon security forces were now on duty in Ankara, which is why they would continue their investigation in Ankara, and then move on to Trabzon.

Subcommittee met Dink family 

On Friday (4 January), the subcommittee listened to the Dink family. The meeting with Hrant Dink's widow Rakel Dink, his brother Orhan Dink and his son Arat Dink, with a lawyer present, took around 1 hour and 20 minutes.

After meeting with the family, Mehmet Ocaktan, MP for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and head of the subcommittee said on the NTV channel:

"The Dink family expressed their demands on this investigation and gave us information in order to draw our attention to points that need to be investigated. We have no authority to intervene in the judiciary process. We are listening to the authorities in order to decide whether there was negligence. This will be the main focus of our report."

He added that the Dink family was demanding "a result which would prove that Turkey was a state ruled by law", and that the committee had assured the family that it would work in an objective and legal manner.

"The fact that Turkey lost an intellectual is saddening. If only Turkey had not experienced such a shameful event. But if the rule of law wins in Turkey, then this will be a compensation, this will be a gain for us all.

Hrant Dink felt persecuted

In an article published in his Agos newspaper on 12 January 2007, a week before he was murdered, Hrant Dink had described how the Governor's office had targeted him:

"The Assistant Governor said 'Hrant Bey, you are an experienced journalist. Should you not be more careful in your reporting? And what need is there for such news?' (...) From what they were saying it was clear why they had called me there. I had to know my place, I had to be careful; otherwise, it would not be good! (...) Again, there was someone after me. I could feel them. And I knew fine well that they would not be as common or obvious as the team of lawyer Kemal Kerincsiz.”

The subcommittee investigating the Hrant Dink case is made up of Ocaktan and Kazim Ataoglu from the AKP, Cetin Soysal of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Senol Bal of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and Agirbas. (GG/TK)