Istanbul prosecutor links Gulen to 2007 murder

By Murat Kaya

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

Gulen and other suspects linked to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) were named by Gokalp Kokcu, a counter-terrorism prosecutor, as being involved in the shooting of Hrant Dink, the source said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

FETO is said to have orchestrated last July’s attempted coup that 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 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”.