Turkey: Ex-gendarme links Dink's murder to coup bid

By Murat Kaya and Enes Can

ISTANBUL (AA) – A former gendarme officer has blamed the Fetullah Terrorist Organization for the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in 2007 and linked it to the July 15 coup bid.

Yusuf Bozca made the accusation Wednesday during his appearance at the Caglayan courthouse in Istanbul. Bozca was later ordered to be released under judicial control.

In his testimony, he said: “The Dink assassination was organized by members of FETO/parallel state structure and his murder then formed the basis of the [July 15] coup attempt.

“When we look at the period we have come through since 2007, the basis of the July 15 coup attempt was laid in this murder.”

He blamed Captain Muharrem Demirkale and his supporters in the Turkish army for being allegedly involved in the assassination.

Dink was one of the founders of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian Agos newspaper. He was killed in broad daylight outside his office in Istanbul on January 19, 2007.

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

Ogun Samast, a Turkish man from Trabzon on Turkey’s Black Sea coast, was jailed for 23 years in connection with the murder in 2011. Samast, who was aged 17 at the time of the killing, claimed he killed Dink for "insulting Turkishness".