Suspect Imprisoned For Killing Of Armenian Journalist In Turkey

Murdered Armenian journalist Hrant Dink

An Istanbul court has sentenced the chief suspect in the 2007 assassination of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink to nearly 23 years in prison.

A panel of judges found the suspect, Ogun Samast, guilty of killing Dink outside his office in January 2007.

Dink, the editor of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly "Agos" had angered nationalists referring to the mass killings of Armenians in the early 20th century as genocide.

Turkey denies the killings constitute genocide.

Samast, the self-confessed murderer, was 17 and unemployed when the killing took place. The court initially sentenced him to life in prison, but reduced the sentence because he was underage at the time of the murder.

compiled from agency reports