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Turkish murder suspect: No ties

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ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- The teenage suspect who confessed to gunning down a Turkish-Armenian journalist last week has no connection to any organized group, Istanbul police chief Celalettin Cerrah said Monday.

In his weekend confession, Ogun Samast, 17, said he had no regrets for killing Hrant Dink and said he was angry at the prominent Turkish journalist of Armenian heritage, according to Turkey's state-run news agency Anatolia.

Dink was shot to death in front of his Istanbul newspaper office Friday in broad daylight.

Police arrested Samast on Saturday after a 32-hour search, authorities said.

Turkish media, citing police, reported that Samast is 17, a high school dropout and a possible drug addict.

He was arrested on a bus in Samsun, on his way to Trabzon. The bus was waiting to leave the bus station, Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler told reporters.

During the arrest Guler said police found a gun and the white knit that Samast was wearing on a surveillance video that had been aired on Turkish television.

It was the surveillance video that led to the youngster's arrest. Police said his father saw widely publicized pictures from the surveillance video and tipped them off.

The father is from Trabzon in northern Turkey on the Black Sea, but Samast was living in Istanbul with his uncle, according to media reports.

Authorities said the youngster was brought to Istanbul by plane Sunday.

At least 12 people have been detained in connection with the case in Trabzon, and 6 of them are to be brought to Istanbul for questioning on Sunday, CNN Turk said.

CNN's Talia Kayali and Paula Hancocks contributed to this report.

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