Turkish shooting suspect says his target was Armenian patriarch

A Turkish man accused of firing in the air outside an Armenian
church claimed Wednesday his real target had been Patriarch
Mesrob II, the spiritual leader of the tiny Armenian community,
the Anatolia news agency reported.

"I had prepared it for (Mesrob) Mutafyan II," Volkan Karova shouted
to reporters here as he and fellow suspect Yýlmaz Can Özalp were
being escorted to the prosecutor's office to give their testimony,
the agency reported.

It was not clear whether he had intended to physically attack the
patriarch or scare him. Later Wednesday, a court charged the two
men with "threatening by firing shots" and "carrying an unlicensed
gun" and sent them to jail pending trial, the agency said. The pair
were arrested late Sunday just hours after two men fired a shot in
the air outside a church in the city's Kumkapý district. At the time,
a ceremony was being held for slain ethnic Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink.


ISTANBUL GOVERNOR'S OFFICE REFUSES TO ENSURE SECURITY OF ARMENIAN


As reported from Istanbul governor's office, they cannot ensure
security of numerous Armenian establishments. This statement
was made in response to the application of the Armenian
Patriarch of Constantinople Archbishop Mesrob Mutafian. The
governor office's letter says that each establishment shall
ensure its own security. Archbishop Mesrob Mutafian on March 8
inviated heads of Armenian establishments to the Patriarchate
in order to discuss this issue. According to the newspaper
"Marmara" (Istanbul), the patriarch noted that cooperation
necessary to create a fund for this purpose. It was decided
to form a commission to deal with the problem of funds.
ISTANBUL, MARCH 9, NOYAN TAPAN - ARMENIANS TODAY