Speaking at a hearing of the case on December 5, former Trabzon Gendarmerie Intelligence head Lt. Col. Metin Yıldız said the authorities knew of a plot to assassinate Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink six months before he was shot dead in 2007, Hurriyet reports.
"We heard from Coşkun İğci, who worked at the Soil Products Office, that [Yasin] Hayal was planning the killing of Hrant Dink,” Yıldız, who is being tried under arrest in the case, said at the 14th Istanbul Heavy Penal Court.
"I briefed Ali Öz about this. He gave me no orders. It was busy in the department at the time, so I focused on other tasks. But it was certain Hayal and three or four others would be carrying out this act. There was an intelligence loop,” he added.