Turks commemorate killing of journalist

Thousands marked the one-year anniversary of a Turkish Armenian journalist's killing Saturday, placing red carnations on the spot where he was gunned down in daylight and demanding justice in the case.

Hrant Dink, who was the editor of the minority Agos newspaper, was shot outside his office allegedly by a hardline nationalist teenager. His killing led to international condemnation and debate within Turkey about free speech.

A murder trial, which started last year, is taking place behind closed doors because the alleged gunman is a minor. A total of 19 suspects are on trial.

"We are here today because we want justice," his wife, Rakel Dink, said in an address to the mourners, many of whom had pinned pictures of the slain journalist to their chests.

Hrant Dink had sought to encourage reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia, but several years before his death he was prosecuted under Turkish law for describing the early 20th-century mass killings of Armenians as genocide.

Historians estimate up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed by genocide scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey, however, denies the deaths constituted genocide, saying that the toll has been inflated and that those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.

Turkey's top politicians, including the prime minister, have vowed a thorough investigation into Dink's killing. An Istanbul court is looking into allegations of official negligence or even collusion, but lawyers for Dink's family have said the investigation is flawed.

Rakel Dink on Saturday vowed to press further for justice, saying the judiciary had not followed up on evidence suggesting officials may have been involved in the plot to kill her husband.