Christian Broadcasting Network, VA
Jan 19 2007

Armenian Journalist Killed by Gunman
By Benjamin Harvey
Associated Press Writer
January 19, 2007

CBNNews.com – ISTANBUL, Turkey – A journalist who faced constant
threats and protests as one of the most prominent voices of Turkey’s
shrinking Armenian community was shot to death Friday at the entrance
to his newspaper’s offices, police said.

Hrant Dink, a 53-year-old Turkish citizen of Armenian descent, had
gone on trial numerous times for speaking out about the mass killings
of Armenians by Turks at the beginning of the 20th century. He had
also received threats from nationalists, who viewed him as a traitor.

In October 2005, he was convicted of trying to influence the
judiciary after the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper he edited,
Agos, ran stories criticizing a law making it a crime to insult
Turkey, the Turkish government or the Turkish national character.

He was given a six-month suspended sentence.

The conviction was rare even in a country where trials of
journalists, academics and writers have become common. Most of the
cases, including that of the Nobel Prize-winning novelist Orhan
Pamuk, were either dropped on a technicality or led to acquittals.

Dink cried during an interview with The Associated Press last year as
he talked about some of his countrymen’s hatred for him, saying he
could not stay in a country where he was unwanted.

"I’m living together with Turks in this country," Dink told the AP.
"I don’t think I could live with an identity of having insulted them
in this country. if I am unable to come up with a positive result, it
will be honorable for me to leave this country."

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned Dink’s death as an
attack against Turkey’s unity and promised to catch those
responsible.

Erdogan said two suspects had been arrested, but offered no details.

"Once again, dark hands have chosen our country and spilled blood in
Istanbul to achieve their dark goals," Erdogan said at a news
conference.

The prime minister said he had assigned top officials from the
Justice Ministry to the case and that they were on their way to
Istanbul from the capital, Ankara.