PanARMENIAN.Net

AEFJD: Turkey Kills Hrant Dink
20.01.2007 14:34 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `We condemned this hateful assassination’ declared
Hilda Tchoboian, the chairperson of the European Armenian
Federation. `In a country where the system of education and the
political culture moulds the minds of the people with hatred towards
the Non-Turkish citizens of the country and where racism is rampant
with extreme-right organizations occupying a place of honor, this is a
sad reminder that things are far from changing in today’s Turkey,’
declared Hilda Tchoboian. The Federation asserts that irrespective of
outcomes of the investigation the Turkish State has an undeniable
responsibility for this murder. AEFJD also condemns the Turkish
authorities for their incapacity in providing adequate security for
journalists and intellectuals.

The Federation notes that, among a dozen dissidents to the Turkish
State line, it is precisely the one with an Armenian origin who was
targeted by the murderers. `This deliberate act aims at maintaining
the Armenian community in a climate of terror in order to show them
that freedom of expression can have no place in Turkey, especially
concerning the Armenian Genocide, and that the community should not
overstep its limits’, added Hilda Tchoboian.

She also stressed that any attempts by the Turkish government of
capitalizing on Hrant Dink’s assassination to promote a liberal image
in Europe through public sympathizing would be the height of
cynicism. `The Turkish authorities would be well advised to refrain
from such cheap opportunism which would have no currency whatsoever in
Europe,’ concluded Hilda Tchoboian.