 ISTANBUL, Turkey --A nationalist militant convicted of bombing a McDonald's restaurant in 2004 has confessed to inciting the killing of an ethnic Armenian journalist last week, police said Monday.
Yasin Hayal told police he provided a gun and money to the teenager who is suspected of carrying out Friday's shooting, the Hurriyet newspaper reported, citing police records. The teenager, Ogun Samast, was arrested over the weekend along with several other people and has confessed to fatally shooting the journalist, according to a chief prosecutor. Police confirmed the confession, but gave no details.
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Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah of Istanbul said Monday that the suspect was linked to Hayal. If accurate, Hayal's reported statements to police would be a strong indication that the journalist, Hrant Dink, was targeted because of his public statements on the mass killings of Armenians by Turks in the early 20th century, one of the nation's most sensitive and divisive issues.
Istanbul Gov. Muammer Guler said prosecutors were still investigating whether the suspect was linked to any organization, although Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah had said earlier that there was "no political or organizational dimension" to the slaying.
| Since he doesn't consider Islam to have any political organizational dimension, he might actually have been sincere with that statement. |
Hayal was convicted in the bombing of a McDonald's restaurant in Trabzon in 2004 that injured six people. He was released after serving more than 10 months in prison. At the time, police could not establish a link between Hayal and any underground groups, and his motive was never clear.
| This is what happens, Europe, when you let terrorists out of prison after a few months. |
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