Documents seized from the Gölcük Naval Command in a search conducted during Sledgehammer investigations shed light on all suspicious events that have occurred in Turkey in the recent past, including the Sept.12, 1980 coup d’état. The documents show us once again that coup leaders are not saviors but murderers.
But a section of the media persist in ignoring these developments. These same people also try to downgrade and reject the Ergenekon case. This is in fact an indication that there is an unusual relationship between coup planners and the media. This is understandable to a certain extent because they owe their existence, power and wealth to the military. But when we look at the Dink murder, it’s hard to understand the government’s attitude.
It’s apparent that Dink was not murdered by just a couple of young lackeys but that the the police and gendarmerie were involved as well. For some reason the government and the Interior Ministry did not or could not go after those who were really responsible for the killing and did not allow the investigation to expand after a certain point. This in return leads to the suspicion that the decision to kill Dink was made by people that the government is reluctant to expose.
Turkey is a country that still has not confronted the events of 1915. For years, Turkey kept that part of history concealed, and any time it was brought up it hid behind the argument that “they killed people too and so did we.” What we have before us is the murder case of an fellow citizen of Armenian origin. This is clearly a “state murder.” I have said this before and I will say it again: A state that can not shed light on a critical murder like this one, which happened not too long ago, has no right to say anything about the past.
The decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) dated Sept. 14, 2010 is a badge of shame we have to wear. The court unanimously agreed that Turkey failed to take sufficient measures to protect Dink’s right to life, stressing that security forces did not take precautionary measures even though they knew Dink’s life was in danger.
During a speech at the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (TÜSİAD), Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan boasted about how the suspects were caught within 36 hours of the incident and shifted the responsibility to the judiciary. But the government is responsible for security and intelligence forces. An explanation as to why the government has not launched a thorough investigation of that part of the case is necessary.
The Dink case is the mother of all cases because it will give Turkey the opportunity to confront everything from its recent to distant past.
