Turkey considers amicable settlement in Dink case: Hurriyet Daily News

The Turkish government is considering a “friendly settlement” with the family of murdered Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in a case being heard at the European Court of Human Rights, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said late Tuesday.

In a televised interview with Bugun TV, Davutoglu said Turkey is planning to take steps to handle cases against it at the European court – in particular, the Dink case – in compliance with contemporary and universal law.

“There are two issues in the Dink case; one is about the protection of the right to life and the other is [about] freedom of expression,” Davutoglu said. “The state has to fulfill all its responsibilities regarding [both] right to life and freedom of expression without any discussion,” Turkish Daily News & Economic Review qoted him as saying.

The Turkey vs. Dink case at the European court is the merger of two civil cases; one preceded Dink’s killing three years ago and the other is related to the murder, for which suspect Ogun Samast is currently on trial in Istanbul. The first case was filed with the European court as a challenge to the journalist being charged with “insulting Turkishness” under the infamous Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, while the second alleges Turkey failed to adequately protect the life of Dink, who received repeated death threats before his assassination Jan. 19, 2007.

Turkey had controversially drawn parallels between Dink’s perspectives and Neo-Nazism in its defense at the European court, statements for which the government is now trying to make amends. The country’s justice, foreign and interior ministers met early this week to discuss what steps should be taken and Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin said Wednesday that the state had failed to protect Dink.

“We will look for a friendly deal,” Ergin added.

Under the terms of a “friendly settlement,” the state must admit it violated the principles of the right to life and free speech set out in the European Convention on Human Rights and pay compensation to the victim’s family. Riza Turmen, Turkey’s former judge at the European court, told the Hurriyet Daily on Monday that the European court also must find any settlement suitable, so that the file can be dropped from the court agenda.

The European court is set to deliver its final verdict in September and Turkey needs to inform the court of any settlement before then.

Dink’s family has ruled out any settlement with the state as long as Article 301 continues to exist in the Turkish Penal Code. It is not yet clear if the government will take such a step, but Davutoglu said Turkey has to make moves to broaden freedom of expression.

Commenting on the controversial Neo-Nazi defense, the foreign minister also said that “such defenses are prepared at the technical level without any need for signature from any minister” and said the statements were “not an appropriate defense in the context of our current criteria.”

“But are those who wrote that defense bad? No,” Davutoglu added. “They are in a position to defend the state practice. This has nothing to do with the executive, but as the judiciary is a state institution, we need to take this into account.”