Turkey: Release of Dink murder suspects appealed

By Murat Kaya, Muhammed Enes Can and Mustafa Hatipoglu

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkish prosecutors on Thursday appealed a court order for the release of suspects in the 2007 murder of Hrant Dink, a prominent Armenian-Turkish journalist.

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has asked an Istanbul court to have the defendants re-arrested.

Early Thursday, an Istanbul High Criminal Court ordered the conditional release of two suspects in the murder.

Ercan Gun and Muharrem Demirkale were released with a travel ban abroad, while the court ordered the continued detention of Ramazan Akyurek and Ali Fuat Yilmazer.

Other suspects in the case include U.S.-based Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) leader Fetullah Gulen, FETO-linked former prosecutor Zekeriya Oz, former Zaman daily Editor-in-Chief Ekrem Dumanli, and journalists Adem Yavuz Arslan and Faruk Mercan.

They are all charged with premeditated murder and attempting to overthrow the constitutional order.

Dink, editor-in-chief of the Armenian-Turkish newspaper Agos, was killed outside his office on Jan. 19, 2007.

In 2011, Ogun Samast was sentenced to 23 years in prison for the killing. Samast, who was 17 years old in early 2007, claimed he killed Dink for “insulting Turkishness.”

Although Samast is the only person to be jailed for the murder, speculation on the involvement of others has persisted.

Last year, FETO -- which plotted the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 in Turkey -- was officially tied to the case.

A 120-page indictment said soldiers and police involved in the Dink murder later played an active role in the defeated coup.

*Writing by Dilara Hamit