Turkish PM vows to reveal 'foreign contacts' in prosecutor's murder

ANKARA

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has vowed to reveal "foreign contacts" of militants involved in the killing of prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz during a police operation at an Istanbul courthouse on March 31.

The two perpetrators, Şafak Yayla and Bahtiyar Doğruyol of the outlawed Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C), had kept Kiraz as hostage for hours before the operation.

"Some terrorists contacted abroad [during the hostage crisis via phone calls]. Our intelligence units are working. We will find their contacts," Davutoğlu said during a press conference on April 4.

Meanwhile, Davutoğlu defended his decision to prevent a number of journalists, including daily Hürriyet reporters, from covering the funeral ceremony of Kiraz.

"They published a lot of news stories about me and my family and I can tolerate it. But I cannot tolerate the fact that they published the photo of our martyred prosecutor," Davutoğlu said.

Turkish PM added that the accreditation ban was imposed against all newspapers that published the photo showing Savcı as a hostage, regardless of which media group they belong. 

He also stressed that the ban was temporary and specific to the funeral.

"We just want to do journalism. We do not want to face bans with policemen waiting on street corners, trying to prevent our colleagues from doing their work," daily Hürriyet had said in an editorial addressing to Davutoğlu on April 3.