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Turkey’s State Audit Institution (DDK), a body under the President’s Office, might lead a separate investigation into the 2007 murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, Turkey’s President Abdullah Gül has said, reports Today’s Zaman.
Speaking to members of press organizations accompanying him during a visit to Strasbourg in the lobby of the hotel where he was staying on Tuesday night, Gül said that the DDK could look into the Dink murder in response to a question on that possibility.
“There is a murder trial going on, and that trial has come a long way so we never thought of that. But there is no such rule that says it can’t happen,” he said.
When reminded that the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) had found Turkey guilty of failing to protect Dink’s right to life and of failing to carry out a thorough investigation into officers who failed to take the necessary measures in light of early warnings and tips about the plot to kill Dink, Gül reiterated that it was possible to order the DDK to investigate the allegations. He said the DDK did not serve as a body that interrogated suspects, but rather a body that made comprehensive investigations to share its finding with the relevant government agencies. “I don’t know if it is something they could do. I wouldn’t hesitate for a second [to order an investigation into the Dink murder],” he said.
Gül said the murder had occurred despite a number of opportunities that came up during the assassination plan’s inception, opportunities that would have normally allowed the authorities to prevent it. He also added that it was important that at least the trial process could be completed in a manner that would leave no doubts in people’s minds. “Also, the only way to make sure that such things do not happen again is to completely illuminate such murders,” Gül said.
When reminded of an alleged attempt by the Council of State to prevent a Turkish citizen of Armenian descent from serving as a bureaucrat at the EU Secretariat-General, Gül said: “Can such a shameful thing be? This is tantamount to rejecting our very own selves. But let me tell you something: In the future, there will be developments that will leave such things behind and that will ensure that all citizens — Muslims and non-Muslims alike — will have the opportunity to serve in higher positions. This is all I am going to say. You will remember this when you hear about these developments.”
The Council of State has issued a stay on any appointments based on Turkey’s EU Secretariat-General’s new expert admission examination held two years ago following an objection filed against the exam results. The real reason behind the stay ruling is allegedly to prevent the Turkish-Armenian candidate who was successful in the exam from being appointed. If this person is admitted to the EU Secretariat-General, he will be the first Turkish bureaucrat of Armenian descent to work at a public agency.