Editor's murder was FETO's 'first attack in Turkey'

By Murat Kaya and Muhammed Enes Can

ISTANBUL

The killing of Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink in 2007 was the Fetullah Terrorist Organization’s (FETO) first attempt to overthrow the Turkish state, according to details that emerged Tuesday.

Dink, editor-in-chief of the dual language Agos newspaper, was killed outside his Istanbul office on Jan. 19, 2007, in a case that has since stirred outrage and intrigue.

Prosecutors on Monday indicted FETO leader Fetullah Gulen over the journalist’s murder in the latest charges to be levelled against the alleged organizer of last July’s coup attempt.

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office asked for a life sentence for Gulen, a judicial official said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.

“Dink’s murder was the beginning of violent acts of FETO/PDY in order to take over the legislative, executive and judicial organs and all the other state institutions, including the armed forces and police,” the indictment said.

The 120-page indictment added that soldiers and police involved in the Dink murder later played an active role in the July 15 attempted coup, in which 249 people were killed.

“Although some public servants knew the potential suspects and those who carried out the murder, they did not hinder the killing,” the document said. “On the contrary, they participated in the crime.”

Gulen knowledge

It added: “It is impossible to accept that the Dink murder was carried out beyond the knowledge and order of Fethullah Gulen, if one considers the positions of civil servants in FETO.”

The document cited two other cases in the mid-2000s -- the Ergenekon and Sledgehammer operations -- as other conspiracies to overthrow the government.

Gulen, who has lived in the U.S. since 1999, has previously been charged over forming an armed terrorist organization as well as with orchestrating the defeated coup.

It is the third indictment prepared in relation to the shooting of Dink.

Ogun Samast, who was aged 17 at the time of the killing, was convicted of carrying out the murder but speculation at the involvement of others has persisted.

Monday’s indictment is the first time the Fetullah Terrorist Organization has been officially tied to the case.

Gulen, former prosecutor Zekeriya Oz, the former editor-in-chief of the Gulenist Zaman newspaper Ekrem Dumanli as well as journalists Adem Yavuz Arslan, Faruk Mercan and Ercan Gun are charged with “intentional killing” and “attempting to remove the constitutional order”.

The latest indictment was sent to Istanbul’s 14th High Criminal Court on Monday, which is expected to approve or reject it within 15 days.