Thousand protesters march in Istanbul to commemorate the 5th anniversary of Hrant Dink's murder case.

Some 40,000 people were out on the streets on Thursday in various provinces across Turkey to commemorate Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, who was shot dead outside his newspaper’s office in Şişli on Jan. 19, 2007, two days after a court verdict that established that there was no “criminal organization” link in the assassination, although plenty of evidence suggests otherwise, Today`s Zhaman reported.

A large crowd gathered in Taksim at 1 p.m., but there were other events in the same area in the evening as well. Other cities that saw large crowds gathering both to commemorate Dink and to protest the court verdict, which they say didn’t find or punish the real perpetrators who organized the murder, included Ankara, İzmir and Adana.

Dink’s family and friends and human rights organizations placed red carnations on the spot where Dink was shot dead in İstanbul outside the office of Agos, the Armenian newspaper where he was editor-in-chief.

Some 10,000 people began marching towards Agos’ office in Halaskargazi Street “for justice,” a call shared by Turkish leaders and leading businessmen who expressed unease with this week’s sentencing of one man to life in prison for masterminding the killing, while another 18 were acquitted of charges of acting on a terrorist organization’s orders. The group is set to make a statement to the press in front of Agos.

Journalist and writer Karin Karakaşlı, who is from Turkey’s Armenian community, read a press statement - on behalf of the group from the window of Agos - that slammed Tuesday’s ruling. “We want an end to this shame,” she said, referring to the five-year-long trial that has failed to shed light on the masterminds behind the murder. “They are telling us that the [case] file has been closed. The Dink case is not a file that can be closed. The Dink case is a wound,” she continued.

The 'hashtag kardesim Hrant' (my brother Hrant) was the top trending topic for Turkey on Twitter, while the words Taksim - where the protesters met in İstanbul - and Agos remained in the top 10 throughout much of the day. Thousands of micro bloggers reported every second of the event in a fast-moving stream of tweets.

At the night club Ghetto, a commemoration concert for Dink was held. The bands and artists who performed were Aylin Aslım, Cafe Aman İstanbul, Gripin, Jehan Barbur, Kardeş Türküler, Moğollar, Mor ve Ötesi, Redd, Rojin and Şevval Sam.

To recall, Dink was shot dead by an ultra-nationalist teenager in broad daylight five years ago. The hit-man, Ogün Samast, and eighteen others were brought to trial. During the process, the lawyers for the Dink family and the co-plaintiffs in the case presented evidence indicating that Samast was not acting alone. Another suspect, Yasin Hayal, was given life in prison for inciting Samast to murder. However, Erhan Tuncel, who worked as an informant for the Trabzon Police Department, was not found guilty of the murder. The prosecution believes the killers are affiliated with the Ergenekon network, whose suspected members currently stand trial on charges of plotting to overthrow the government.