Rakel Dink ponders which alliance will next sway her husband's case on anniversary of murder

Standing at the spot where her husband was shot 14 years ago, Rakel Dink wondered aloud which political alliance would influence her husband slain journalist Hrant Dink's case next. "Many alliances were formed and broken in this country in the past 14 years. And our case has changed colors according to them," Rakel Dink said on Jan. 19.

Tuesday January 19 2021 04:01 pm

Banners reading "14 years without Hrant" and "You are here brother" have been hung on the former office of newspaper Agos.

Duvar English

Standing at the spot where her husband was slain in midday on Jan. 19, 2007, Rakel Dink said that numerous different political alliances have been in office since journalist Hrant Dink's murder 14 years ago, and wondered aloud which alliances' interests would guide the legal case into the murder in the future.

"Many alliances were formed and broken in this country in the past 14 years. And our case has changed colors according to them. One can't help but wonder: Who are we bothering which alliance this time?"

Shot in front of newspaper Agos where he worked as the editor-in-chief, Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink's murder has failed to be resolved for over a decade, although a mounting pile of evidence has implicated state officials repeatedly throughout the proceedings.

Rakel Dink slammed Ankara's reluctance to prosecute public officials in the case, and said that pinning the murder on "deep state players" was in fact a crime itself.

"We come across a state that is almost trying to prove its idiocy to prove it's not a killer," Dink said.

You can visit https://t.co/04piYEkfP6 website and can place your virtual banners on the site where #HrantDink was assassinated. #YouAreHereAhparig pic.twitter.com/OSLhPR2qCC
— HrantDink Foundation (@HrantDinkFnd) January 19, 2021

The memorial for Hrant Dink was held online for the first time in 14 years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but a small group of mourners left red carnations and signs in front of Agos on Jan. 19.

Dink was shot dead in 2007 on Halaskargazi Street, in the Şişli district of Istanbul, where the headquarters of the Turkish-Armenian weekly newspaper Agos are located.

Ogün Samast, then a 17-year old jobless high school dropout, confessed to the killing and was sentenced to almost 23 years in jail back in 2011.

The case grew into a wider scandal after it emerged that security forces had been aware of a plot to kill Dink but failed to take action against it.

Thirteen years after Dink's assassination, the trial of several people accused of involvement in the murder, including government security officials, is still dragging on.

A 2017 indictment accused the police officers and intelligent agency now on the trial of neglect of duty, destroying evidence and other offenses. A total of 76 suspects, four of whom are jailed and 13 are fugitives, are on trial as part of the case.