Wednesday, January 19 2022 18:01

ArmInfo. 15 years have passed since the egregious murder of a Turkish journalist of Armenian origin, editor-in-chief of the "Akos" (Agos) newspaper Hrant Dink in  Istanbul, but the perpetrators of this crime have not been punished  to this day.  

A well-known journalist whose newspaper was the  mouthpiece of those who fought for the recognition of the Armenian  Genocide and for the Armenian-Turkish reconciliation, was killed on  January 19, 2007 in Istanbul in front of the editorial office of his  "Akos" newspaper. His assassination shocked the international  community.

Despite the fact that the Turkish authorities initiated a lawsuit,  the masterminds of the crime have not been identified. The court  sentenced only the murderer himself, Ogun Samast, to imprisonment for  22 years and 10 months, and Yasin Khayal, accused of inciting murder,  to life imprisonment. On September 17, 2013, the trial resumed. And  on January 19, 2015,  former chief of the Cizre police, Ercan Demir,  was arrested as part of the case, but the investigation has not yet  been completed, , and the person who ordered the murder has not been  found. According to the decision of the European Court of Human  Rights, the Turkish authorities violated Hrant Dink's right to life  and the right to freedom of speech. The ECHR has sentenced Turkey to  pay 133,000 euros to Hrant Dink's family.  Two days before the  murder, in an interview with RIA Novosti, when asked if he was  afraid, Dink, in particular, said: "Of course, it's scary. If you  want to know for sure, then fear accompanies me daily." Hrant Dink  was born in 1954 in the Turkish province of Malatya. He was seven  years old when his parents moved him to Istanbul. He received his  secondary education at an Armenian school in Istanbul. He graduated  from Istanbul University, having received the specialty of a  zoologist, and then a philosopher. Since 1996, Dink has headed the  Akos (Agos) newspaper, published in Turkish and Armenian.

53-year-old Dink, became known in Turkey for writing on sensitive  topics, in particular the Armenian Genocide. For this, he was  repeatedly prosecuted. In 2005, he was sentenced to six months in  prison under the article "insulting the Turkish nation", but then the  charges were dropped.  Primarily representatives of ultra-right  Turkish organizations repeatedly threatened the journalist with  physical violence.