Hrant Dink’s killer makes important statements on assassination plot.

Ogun Samast, the Turkish ultranationalist who gunned down Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink in Istanbul in 2007, has disclosed certain details of the assassination plot in a recent interview with Taraf newspaper.

The activist, who has been sentenced to 22 years and 10 months in prison, said the plan to kill the editor-in-chief of Agos weekly consisted of three stages. The first stage, according to him, was to turn media spotlight on Dink.

Samast said that neither police interrogations nor his evidence in court revealed any hint about those steps.

“I committed an error, and I am now answering for it by spending my youth in prison,” he said.

Samast said he didn’t know Dink and had no idea about the location of his office. He called for imposing liability measures on those who forced him into committing the crime.

“I cannot say many things unless the first stage is resolved. Three months before the murder I had a tea conversation with someone who has involvement in Dink’s murder plan. I promise to speak about it too,” he added.

Samast said he regrets for shooting Dink to death and blamed his ultranationalistic views on media propaganda.

“I said in all my testimonies that when I saw Dink first, I felt sorry for him. I didn’t want to kill him, but then, I remembered certain things. I cannot disclose them now, but I will speak out when the time comes,” he said.

As for Erhan Tuncel’s statement that Ergenecon masterminded the murder, Samast did not confirm or deny anything in that connection, saying that he was unaware of any such plan.

“I only pulled the trigger. If Erhan knows anything, let him say it. It turns out that Erhan was innocent if he was released. The police probably arrested him when he was praying in mosque,” he added.