The e-mail was signed: “TİT Tunceli District Command”. TİT is an abbreviation for "Turkish Revenge Team". The group is notorious for acts of political provocations and assassinations.

The other two men mentioned in the e-mail is the chief magistrate of Diyarbakır, Osman Baydemir, and the chief magistrate of Hakkari, Metin Tekçe.

Ferhat Tunç has received similar threatening messages for a long time, but he has noted that the number of messages with treatening or cursing statements has increased considerably after the assassination of journalist and editor Hırant Dink.
Dink was of Armenian origin and was one of those who had been prosecuted under Turkey’s strict laws against “insulting Turkishnes". He was shot dead in the streets of Istanbul in January, killed by an ultranationalist teenager.


E-mail sent from Izmir

Turkish Police took immediate action on the e-mail message of 24 January, and their research showed that the e-mail was written in an Internet cafe in Foça district of İzmir. The police authorities denied to give detailed information on what other findings have been revealed as a result of the investigations made.

However, two police officials who work for Beyoğlu Police Department visited Ferhat Tunç in his office on 22 March 2007, and after informing him about the threat coming from TİT one of the officers remarked: “In these days you must be careful, and please inform us about any suspicious persons you may see around your office, your house, and so on.”
The police officials explained that they were making the warning upon a directive of the Office of the Public Prosecutor, and declared that as the Police Department they were also going to take precautions.


Two months delay

Ferhat Tunç expressed gratitude that the Police took immediate action after receiving the threat message, but he also remarked that he found it strange why it should take two months before he was informed about the e-mail and the life threating situation.

Ferhat Tunç said that the Police has taken a general precaution by appointing patrols to the street of his office and house. He has not asked for any closer and different type of security.