AsiaNews, Italy
Jan 20 2007

Nuncio to Ankara: "The assassination of Hrant Dink, an affront to
Turkey"

by Mavi Zambak

After assassination of the journalist of Armenian origin in Istanbul,
spontaneous demonstrations on the streets of many cities demand
`truth and freedom’. Suspicion falls on groups of nationalist
fanatics, who roam the country; but still nothing official.

Ankara (AsiaNews) – Yesterday 10 thousand gathered in Taksim,
Istanbul’s most famous square, were they remain all night to show
their sorrow at the death of the journalist of Armenian origin Hrant
Dink shot dead in the afternoon, as he left the offices of the Agos
weekly magazine, of which he was founding editor. A long procession
left the doorstep decorated with flowers and candles in suffrage of
the victim.

Armenians and exponents of the left remained in disconcerted silence
as they led a torchlight procession with banners and photographs of
their friend and intellectual. The recurrent slogan: `We are all
Hrant Dink, we are all Armenians, searching for the truth and freedom
‘, pronounced even by those who were not Armenian but defended and
supported the same ideals of the Turkish Journalist of Armenian
origin. Similar scenes in the principal squares of Ankara, Bursa and
Smirne, where over 150 thousand people gathered spontaneously, mainly
students and supporters of the Left.

The common opinion is that this murder was a provocation and had a
destabilising political motivation, carried out by one of the many
extreme right groups, nationalist fanatics, who roam the country
freely undisturbed. However no-one has yet come forward with an
hypothesis or name. As with the murder of Don Andrea the police
immediately began the hunt for a young man, as fate would have it
also a minor, possibly identified thanks to a video camera positioned
outside a shop beside the Agos office. So far 8 people have been
detained on suspicion.

The unanimous chorus from the daily newspapers and television
channels states that it is not only a man that has been put to death,
but Turkish society , that society which seeks fraternity, peaceful
democracy and freedom of thought. The Nuncio in Ankara is of the
same opinion, msgr. Antonio Lucibello: `It is a low blow for all
Turkey, one body has not been hit but the entire fabric of Turkish
society, at a point of time when it is consolidating democracy and
searching for a common course for the various components that make up
the country. During the week of prayer for Christian Unity – adds
the prelate – we cannot but unite ourselves to the sorrow of our
brothers, showing them our solidarity and closeness. We hope in the
deepest of our hearts that this will not alter the pacific climate
that was created by the Pope’s visit, between the faithful and the
leaders of the different religions and Christian confessions present
on Turkish soil’.

Before this `barbarous, disloyal and vile assassination ‘,
theArmenian Patriarch Mesrob II has announced 15 days of mourning for
the over 80 thousand Armenians in Turkey as well as those living
abroad.