Policeman who posed with Turkish-Armenian journalist's killer promoted
ISTANBUL
Hürriyet Photo
A police officer that was photographed posing with Hrant Dink murderer Ogün Samast behind a Turkish flag immediately after the assassination has been promoted, daily Radikal reported today.Yakup Kurtaran, who was a fourth-class police officer in the Black Sea province of Samsun at the time of the murder, has been appointed as the public security deputy manager in the eastern province of Malatya.
The controversial photo was taken on Jan. 20, 2007, after Samast was detained and taken to the anti-terror office in Samsun.
Kurtaran and other officers were suspended after the photo was revealed; initially, Kurtaran was docked one day’s pay for his role in the photo, but the penalty was later rescinded by a Samsun court.
Authorities launched an investigation into the unidentified people who leaked the photo on charges of "breaching an investigation's secrecy by featuring photos and videos in the visual and print media."
Samast was sentenced to over 22 years in prison last year for the Jan. 19, 2007, murder of Dink, a Turkish-Armenian journalist.
