After being on the run for 38 days, Turkish police yesterday captured Erhan Tuncel, the suspected instigator of the murder of Hrant Dink in 2007.

“This is the price of having served my country,” Tuncel told reporters as he was taken into custody by police officers.

 On the day of his capture, an interview with Tuncel appeared in a local Turkish newspaper, in which he stated, “I will surrender when I complete my defense. I will reveal the names I am in contact with. The gendarmerie forces have a big role in the Dink murder … I am not running away, I am preparing a detailed defense with my application to the European Court of Human Rights and planning to complete it within 15 days.”

Tuncel also pointed the finger at an organization within the state “higher than Ergenekon” that is being prevented from shedding light on the Dink murder.

He singled out the police department in the Black Sea city of Trabzon where he served as an informant.

In January of this year, the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court issued a verdict exonerating 19 suspects as “members of a terrorist organization”.

On September 14, the Dink murder case was restarted after the Turkish Supreme Court overturned the ruling.