“We are the ‘deep' family of Hrant Dink,” said Filiz Ali, daughter of the great Turkish poet Sebahattin Ali, who was murdered in 1948 while trying to flee the country after serving time in prison for insulting Atatürk. “Hrant's friends gave us permission today. We will speak instead of them,” she continued.
Family members of other victims of political murders have signed a statement in support of the Dink family, including relatives of journalists Uğur Mumcu, Çetin Emeç, Metin Göktepe and Abdi İpekçi; prosecutor Doğan Öz; Kurdish writers Ümit Kaftancıoğlu, Turan Dursun, Onat Kutlar and Musa Anter; Confederation of Revolutionary Workers' Unions (DİSK) President Kemal Türkler; folk singer Hasret Gültekin; poets Behçet Aysan, Nesimi Çimen and Metin Altıok; terror victims Yasemin Cebenoyan and Sevinç Özgüner; publisher İlhan Erdost; academic Cavit Orhan Tütengil; and Adana Police Chief Cevat Yurdakul.
‘We came to share and bear witness to the injustice we have been enduring for many years. We came to remind people how organized political murders are covered up,' said supporters of Dink whose relatives fell victim to shady political murders in the past |
“We came to share and bear witness to the injustice we have been enduring for many years. We came to remind people how organized political murders are covered up, which we have held in our memory since the murder of Sabahattin Ali,” Filiz Ali said. By calling themselves the "deep family," the Dink family's supporters are referencing the "deep state," which is believed to have played a role in Dink's murder.
The relatives of the victims demanded that no secrets should remain, saying: “We came here to say that we are following you. We do not believe that any secret can be so important as to carry the burden of this dishonor, this humiliation. We came here to express our hope that this court, which will start the hearing in a few minutes, is powerful enough to bring out all the secrets.”
Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) İstanbul deputy Ufuk Uras, İpekçi’s daughter Nükhet İpekçi, Öz’s wife Sezen Öz and writer Adalet Ağaoğlu were also present to support the Dink family in addition to observers from bar associations from Brussels and Paris.
In addition, the Demokratik Yargı Derneği (Democratic Judiciary Union), which was found as an alternative to the highly politicized Judges and Prosecutors Association (YARSAV), released a press statement, calling for light to be shed on political murders like Dink’s and others. They stated that political murders stand before the democratic development of Turkey.
 Özgür Mumcu (L), the son of slain journalist Uğur Mumcu; Rakel Dink (2nd from L), the widow of journalist Hrant Dink; Sezen Öz (2nd from R), the widow of prosecutor Doğan Öz; and Nukhet İpekçi (R), the daughter of the late journalist Abdi İpekçi, attended the 12th hearing of the Dink trial on Monday. |
Security was tight near the courthouse in Beşiktaş because of the high number of people who came out in support of the Dink family. A group of people who gathered at the Beşiktaş pier protested against all political murders with slogans such as, “For Hrant, For Justice” and “Murderer State Will Be Held Accountable.”
Dink’s wife, Rakel, told reporters outside the courthouse that there will be no salvation unless there is “admission, repentance and apology.”
When reminded that according to an interview with the Zaman daily, Education Minister Nimet Çubukçu is considering naming a school in Turkey after Hrant Dink, she said, “Let’s see.”
Next to Rakel Dink was Sezen Öz. Asked if there will be results from the Dink case, she said she wasn’t able to say much because they were observing developments but they hope that Turkey will face up to its political murders to prevent future killings.
“I see this as Turkey’s most important problem,” she added.
The hearing took place with the participation of five of the defendants under arrest, Ogün Samast, Erhan Tuncel, Yasin Hayal, Ahmet İskender and Ersin Yolcu. Among a total of 20 defendants, Osman Hayal and Mustafa Öztürk, who were released pending trial, were also in court.
The court’s chief justice, Erkan Canak, said the telephone numbers and records of the relevant police officers had been requested from the Trabzon Police Department but the request had been refused as the release of such documents would lead to “lapses in security.”
Canak also said that intelligence reports written prior to Dink’s murder had been requested and had arrived at the court. The Dink family lawyer, Bahri Belen, said all documents coming from the police department talked about the “confidentiality of documents” but pointed out that documents regarding crimes should not be secret.
The hearing will continue with the defense of Tuncel, one of the key suspects, who reportedly had worked with the police and the gendarmerie as an informant and gave them tip-offs about the plot to kill Dink several months before the assassination. Tuncel, who belongs to the Grand Unity Party (BBP), argued against the fact that he had been labeled as a leader in a terrorist organization. He said this was only because of his “political views.”
Tuncel asked BBP leaders Yaşar Cihan and Halis Egemen, who were at the court, whether or not the party approved of Dink’s murder. Egemen said they would never support an act of murder and they “love the created because of the creator. This view does not discriminate between Muslims or non-Muslims.”
At the last hearing of the Dink trial last October, co-plaintiff lawyer Fethiye Çetin stated that Dink’s murder, along with that of an Italian priest in 2006 and the 2007 slaying of three Christians in Malatya, was part of an operation carried out by Ergenekon, a neo-nationalist gang believed to be the extension of a clandestine network of groups with members in the armed forces.
Benzer Haberler 
National
