Police implicated in Dink case promoted

ANKARA - Hürriyet Daily News

Hürriyet photo

A police chief accused of negligence during the assassination of Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist murdered outside his office in Istanbul in 2007, received a promotion through the unanimous voting of a commission in the Turkish Police Headquarters.

The commission decided to promote Ali Fuat Yılmazer, who was serving as a deputy director in charge of intelligence at the Istanbul Police Department at the time of Dink’s assassination, from second to first class police director during a meeting May 12.

The promotion allows Yılmazer to be appointed to the offices of provincial police chief or the head of a department, according to the daily Milliyet.

Yılmazer is currently serving as the head of the Witness Protection and Bomb Demolition Departments in Ankara. His name was also implicated in a report prepared by the Prime Ministry Inspection Board on Dink’s assassination.

The controversial police chief also headed the intelligence unit in charge of technical tracking during preliminary preparations in the investigations of a number of high-profile cases, including the Ergenekon probe.

Yılmazer’s promotion also follows the promotion of other police officers implicated in the Dink case. Ahmet İlhan Güler, the intelligence branch director of the Istanbul police at the time of Dink’s murder, had also received the same promotion last year.

Yılmazer’s name was also among the list of police officers who have been called back to Ankara following a recent crisis between Turkey’s Intelligence and police staff early this February.

Ramazan Akyürek, a former inspector at the Police Headquarters, was also appointed as the head of his department, despite the controversial allegations about him in connection with Dink’s murder during his tenure as the head of the Turkish Police Intelligence Department.