Metin Yıldız, former Director of Gendarmerie Intelligence Division in Trabzon town, made a shocking statement during the trial of the case into the murder of Istanbul Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

Yıldız stated in court that the Turkish state was aware of the preparations for Dink’s murder, but it did nothing to protect him, according to Agos Armenian weekly of Istanbul.

“The police and the counterterrorism department knew before us about the assassination being planned against Hrant Dink,” he said, in particular. “Istanbul police had sufficient information that an assassination was being organized against Dink. They knew everything very well there, but didn’t try to prevent the murder.”

During his previous testimony, Metin Yıldız stressed that even though he had informed the Gendarmerie commander about the planning of this murder, he had not received any instructions to take respective action. 

Hrant Dink, the founder and chief editor of Agos, was gunned down on January 19, 2007, outside the then office of this newspaper.

In 2011, the perpetrator, Ogün Samast, was sentenced by a juvenile court to 22 years and ten months for the murder.

After long court proceedings and appeals, however, a new probe was ultimately launched in this murder case, and regarding numerous former and serving senior Turkish officials’ complicity in this assassination.