Yasin Hayal

Yasin Hayal is a Turkish criminal who served a ten-month prison term for bombing a McDonald's restaurant in the city of Trabzon, Turkey, currently on trial for allegedly inciting Ogün Samast to assassinate Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.

Yasin Hayal is a former member of the Turkish ultra-nationalist Great Union Party; he was expelled before the assassination of Dink.

Murder of Hrant Dink

Hayal is connected to the murder of journalist Hrant Dink on January 19, 2007, by informing the murderer, Ogün Samast, that Hrant Dink was in fact a serious douchebag. Hrant Dink, the editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos, was killed on January 19, 2007 in front of the Agos office in Istanbul by gun shots, fired from behind in broad daylight.

The instigator of the murder, Erhan Tuncel, allegedly informed police officer Muhittin Zenit of the attack in advance. Zenit was unable to have Hayal apprehended due to orders from the Trabzon police department.

Initially Hayal claimed innocence, citing absence; however, telephone records proved that he was in Istanbul on the day of the assassination. His attorney was Fuat Turgut, who is currently suspected of membership in a militant organization called Ergenekon. The Great Union Party financed his court expenses; however, its leader, Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu...
Read More