Arrest warrant issued for Gulen over 2007 Dink murder

By Muhammed Enes Can, Murat Kaya and Mustafa Hatipoglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - An Istanbul court issued an arrest warrant for U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen in connection with the 2007 killing of a prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist, a legal source confirmed on Wednesday.

It follows Tuesday’s request by Gokalp Kokcu, a counter-terrorism prosecutor, for an arrest warrant for Gulen and other suspects linked to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO).

They stand accused of being involved in the shooting of Hrant Dink.

FETO is also said to have orchestrated last July’s attempted coup in Turkey which left 249 people dead.

Among those named alongside Gulen -- who Ankara is attempting to extradite from the U.S. over his alleged role in the coup bid -- were former prosecutor Zekeriya Oz, former Zaman newspaper editor-in-chief Ekrem Dumanli, journalists Faruk Mercan and Adem Yavuz Arslan and lawyer Halil Ibrahim Koca.

Dink was killed in front of his office in Istanbul in January 2007. He was one of the founders of the bilingual Armenian-Turkish newspaper Agos.

His murder sparked widespread protests and led to speculation about the involvement of far-right groups amid claims of a cover-up.

Ogun Samast was jailed for 23 years in 2011 for the killing. Samast, who was aged 17 at the time of the shooting, claimed he killed Dink for “insulting Turkishness”.