Armenians outraged at journalist's death

ISTANBUL, Turkey, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- Armenian officials are outraged over the killing in Istanbul of a Turkish journalist of Armenian descent.

Hrant Dink was shot Friday near his newspaper's office. Thousands of people gathered at the shooting site to protest the killing, the BBC reported.

"The killing of this well-known Armenian journalist in Turkey raises numerous questions and deserves the strongest condemnation," Armenian President Robert Kocharian said. "We hope that the Turkish authorities will do everything possible to find and punish the culprit strictly in accordance with the law."

The speaker of the Armenian parliament, Tigran Torosyan, said the killing should impact Turkey's entry into the European Union, the BBC said.

"Following the murder, Turkey should not even dream about joining the European Union," the Armenian news agency Arminfo quoted him as saying.

Armenia is one of Turkey's eastern neighbors.

The BBC said Dink had written extensively about the massacre of Armenians during the end of the Ottoman Empire and was convicted in 2005 of insulting Turkish identity after he wrote an article on the topic.

Local media have reported that three people have been arrested in the shooting.