Turkish ultranationalists have raised banner calling ‘‘Down with Hrant Dink!’’
A group of Turkish ultranationalists have raised a banner with the picture of Ogun Samast, the assassinator of the editor of Armenian newspaper Agos, Hrant Dink, during the procession in Istanbul dedicated to the anniversary of Aghdam events, reports the website of Turkish newspaper Hurriyet.
“Glory to Ogun Samast! Down with Hrant Dink! Azerbaijan, continue your struggle!” it was written in the banner.
According to the article, that group calls itself “Soldiers of Alparslan Turkes” who was a nationalist and the founder of National Movement Party, which is considered to be the political wing of Turkish Boz Qurds (Grey wolves).
It is noted in the article that the police stopped the procession.
On February 26, 1992, during the war in Karabakh, around 200 to 300 people (according to Human Rights Watch, and 600 according to the version propagated by Azerbaijan) were killed in unknown circumstances near the city of Aghdam. They have been deliberately withheld by the Azerbaijani authorities in the midst of the military actions. Population of the village of Khojalu, which was one of the firing points shooting at the blockaded Stepanakert (among five others) was kept in the village for months by force and was not evacuated by the authorities of Azerbaijan deliberately, in order to use them as human shields later.
Residents of Khojalu coming out through the humanitarian corridor, that the self-defense forces of NKR had left open, freely passed more than 10 km and reached the Aghdam city controlled by the Azerbaijani troops. Later, not far from the positions of Azerbaijani troops dead bodies of the villagers were found. The exact death toll remains unknown as the official Baku publishes data contradicting each other. Parliamentary Commission investigating the tragic death of the civilians at Aghdam city was dissolved by the order of Heydar Aliyev, the investigative materials are kept secret.
The editor of bilingual (Turkish and Armenian) newspaper Agos, published in Turkey, Hrant Dink was killed in front of his editorial office in Istanbul on January 19, 2007. On January 17, 2012 the court of Istanbul attained a verdict. According to it, 18 suspects were acquitted and released as their involvement in an armed terrorist group, in planning and implementation of the crime was found unproven by the Court. The main accused of complicity in Dink’s murder, Yasin Hayal was sentenced to life imprisonment, while Erhan Tuncel, accused of involvement in armed terrorist group, planning and implementing the murder was acquitted. The actual perpetrator of the crime, at that time under-age, Ogun Samast was taken under custody a day after the murder and later sentenced to 21 years and 10 months imprisonment. Ersin Yolcu and Ahmed Iskender accused of complicity in a crime were as well sentenced to 12 years and 6 months imprisonment. However, it is believed that the real customers of the murder remain at large and unpunished; only the perpetrators of the crime were convicted.