Friends of Hrant slam gov’t attempt to associate Dink murder with Gülen movement

The Friends of Hrant held a press conference in front of Çağlayan Courthouse before the eighth hearing in the retrial of the Dink murder on Friday. (Photo: Cihan)
The Friends of Hrant held a press conference in front of Çağlayan Courthouse before the eighth hearing in the retrial of the Dink murder on Friday. (Photo: Cihan)


Date posted: January 25, 2015

MÜRSEL GENÇ/ MUSTAFA ARSLAN/ / ISTANBUL

A group called Friends of Hrant Dink, including lawmakers and activists, has harshly criticized the government’s recent attempt to associate the Dink’s murder with the Gülen movement, inspired by the teachings of Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, calling onauthorities to expose the real criminals behind the murder.

The group held a press conference in front of Çağlayan Courthouse before the eighth hearing in the retrial of the Dink murder on Friday. Speaking on behalf of the group, Cumhuriyet columnist Aydın Engin said that there are attempts to link the murder with one individual or a group. Referring to the “parallel structure,” a term invented by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to refer to the Gülen movement (Hizmet movement), Engin said: “There are attempts being made to associate the murder with a nondescript structure called ‘parallel.’ However, we have known from the beginning that it was a murder of national reconciliation.”

A court overseeing the retrial of the Dink murder postponed the trial to April 28.

Engin said the trial is nothing more than a show, adding that concealed evidence, suspected public officials being promoted instead of convicted and court decisions have made them all pessimistic. Stating that the Dink murder has so far been used by the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) for various political reasons, Engin said that the government is trying to blame the Gülen movement for it. The government has been in conflict with the movement since a corruption scandal that implicated various high-ranking state officials was made public on Dec. 17, 2013.

The columnist claimed that Dink was murdered as a result of a cooperation between police, soldiers, the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and some provocateurs. “We know the names of most of the public officials involved in the murder. They cannot make us believe in this deceit. They cannot confine this trial only to the parallel [structure] or any other particular structure,” he said. He also said the state network behind the murder should be revealed and all the criminals should be punished.

Source: Today's Zaman , January 23, 2015

Tags: | |


Related News

AFSV Statement on Media and Business Crackdown

The Alliance for Shared Values denounces the politically-motivated raids on Koza Ipek holding group, publisher of opposition Bugun daily, as well as the arrest of two British journalists and their translator. These disgraceful actions by President Erdogan and his oligarchy are aimed at silencing independent media in preparation for upcoming November elections, and at deflecting criticism resulting from massive government corruption, nepotism and failure to accept election defeat.

In Erdogan regime western-oriented intellectuals, bureaucrats, liberals, Kurds, civil society activists in mortal danger

Those in prison—educated, Western-oriented intellectuals and bureaucrats, liberals, Kurds, civil society activists, and supporters of exiled cleric Fethullah Gülen—are in mortal danger. When blood flows from the prisons, it will be no accident nor should anyone believe Erdogan’s security forces were simply reacting to a crisis.

Erdoğan’s house of cards

In a long statement, the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), whose honorary chair is Gülen, has called on the government to submit whatever evidence it has on conspiracies, such as those involving a “deep state” and “parallel structures” as well as accusations of “treason,” “espionage” and “collaboration with international powers” against the interests of Turkey. In other words, Gülen is standing firm and not blinking in the face of Erdoğan’s preposterous threats.

It is a great loss that Turkish Olympiads were not held in Turkey

The efforts of Justice and Development Party (AK Party) municipalities and districts to ensure that the Turkish Olympiads were not held in Turkey this year led to some strong reaction. Former Foreign Minister Yaşar Yakış, also one of the founders of the AK Party, expressed his sorrow about the obstacles that were deliberately manufactured to hinder the organization of the event.

Erdoğan’s imaginary power struggles

When we look at international media coverage of the recent corruption scandal in Turkey, we see that the events are generally seen as a “power struggle” between the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government and the Hizmet movement.

Domestic violence addressed at GYV Women’s Platform int’l conference

İPEK ÜZÜM, İSTANBUL The reasons behind domestic violence and the role of family in the prevalence of violence in society are being discussed during an international conference organized by the Journalists and Writers Foundation‘s (GYV) Women’s Platform in İstanbul. The conference, titled “Family and Community Violence,” kicked off on Friday night with a reception at […]

Latest News

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

After Reunion: A Quiet Transformation Within the Hizmet Movement

Erdogan’s Failed Crusade: The World Rejects His War on Hizmet

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

In Case You Missed It

Erdoğan media’s accusations against Gülen and Hizmet

Review of Dogan Koc’s Strategic Defamation of Fethullah Gulen: English vs. Turkish

Peace Valley Foundation recognizes reporter, teacher, preacher for community work

Feza Schools to open branch in Dodoma, Tanzania

Sabotage: government-Gülen movement relations

TÜBİTAK scolded for hiding olympiad winners were from Hizmet schools

The Gülen Movement: a modern expression of Turkish Islam – Interview with Hakan Yavuz

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News