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.