Turkish court orders re-arrest of Dink murder suspects

By Murat Kaya, Muhammed Enes Can and Mustafa Hatipoglu </p> <p>ISTANBUL (AA)- An Istanbul court on Friday accepted prosecutors’ appeal for the re-arrest of two suspects in the 2007 murder of Hrant Dink, a prominent Armenian-Turkish journalist. </p> <p>Following the suspects' conditional release on Thursday, prosecutors asked the court to have them re-arrested, and the 15th High Criminal Court in Istanbul agreed.</p> <p>Ercan Gun and Muharrem Demirkale had been released with a ban on leaving the country, while the court ordered the continued detention of Ramazan Akyurek and Ali Fuat Yilmazer. </p> <p>Other suspects in the case include U.S.-based Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) leader Fetullah Gulen, FETO-linked former prosecutor Zekeriya Oz, former Zaman daily Editor-in-Chief Ekrem Dumanli, and journalists Adem Yavuz Arslan and Faruk Mercan. </p> <p>They are all charged with premeditated murder and attempting to overthrow the constitutional order. </p> <p>Dink, the editor-in-chief of Armenian-Turkish newspaper Agos, was killed outside his office on Jan. 19, 2007. </p> <p>In 2011, Ogun Samast was sentenced to 23 years in prison for the killing. Samast, who was 17 years old in early 2007, claimed he killed Dink for “insulting Turkishness.” </p> <p>Although Samast is the only person to be jailed for the murder, speculation on the involvement of others has persisted. </p> <p>Last year, FETO — which plotted the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 in Turkey, leaving 251 people martyred — was officially tied to the case. </p> <p>A 120-page indictment said soldiers and police involved in the Dink murder later played an active role in the defeated coup. </p> <p>*Writing by Dilara Hamit and Busra Nur Bilgic