Fresno Bee, CA
Jan 22 2007
Valley Armenians mourn slain Turkish newsman
Editor Hrant Dink spoke out about the Armenian genocide.
By Vanessa Colon / The Fresno Bee01/22/07 05:01:24
Fresno’s tight-knit Armenian community on Sunday mourned the death
of a newspaper editor in Turkey and prayed the killing would draw
world attention to the Armenian genocide.
Dozens who gathered for Sunday morning services inside the Holy
Trinity Armenian Apostolic Church in downtown Fresno remembered the
slain newsman. Others named him their new hero or "the latest martyr
of the Armenian genocide."
Hrant Dink, a Turk of Armenian descent who was gunned down Friday
outside his office in Istanbul, had received many threats because he
wrote about the Armenian genocide.
Between 1915 to 1923, 1.5 million Armenians died at the hands of the
Ottoman Turkish Empire. Turkey does not acknowledge that the genocide
happened but says many Armenians died in the civil unrest during the
fall of the empire.
"The truth will eventually come out. I think the good people of Turkey
will start speaking up," said Angie Ohannessian of Fresno.
Dink’s murder appalled many of the Valley’s Armenian-Americans,
who also are frustrated that the U.S. government doesn’t acknowledge
the genocide.
Dink was convicted of insulting Turkishness on Oct. 7, 2005, for his
public comments on the genocide.
Some Armenians said Dink’s killing is a reminder that hatred toward
Armenians in Turkey still exists.
The Rev. Vahan Gosdanian, speaking to the congregation at Holy Trinity
Armenian Apostolic Church, said Dink’s murder shows that the killings
of Armenians by Turks are not over. He called Dink "the latest martyr"
of the genocide.
Sarkis Sahatdjian said he hates what was done to Armenians but doesn’t
hate Turks because some Turks did help Armenians.
Sahatdjian, however, can’t understand how the United States, which
prides itself on ideals of freedom of speech and expression as well
as being a beacon of democracy, won’t acknowledge the genocide. Many
Armenians say they believe it’s because the United States is an ally
of Turkey.
"Most of the European Union knows what it [the Ottoman Turkish Empire]
did to the Armenians, so does the United States. So why is it [the
U.S.] playing coy," said 87-year-old Sahatdjian.
Sunday afternoon, Carla Garapedian, director of the genocide
documentary "Screamers," told dozens in the audience at California
State University, Fresno, that the United States tends to take a
neutral stance toward genocide.
Garapedian said the Clinton administration knew about the Rwandan
genocide, for example, but didn’t take action. Garapedian said Clinton
later apologized for the administration’s inaction.
Garapedian was a stand-in for Taner Akcam, a University of Minnesota
associate professor and one of very few Turkish historians to
acknowledge the genocide. Akcam was scheduled to speak at the Fresno
State event, but flew to Turkey instead to attend Dink’s funeral.
"Screamers," which features the history of the Armenian genocide and
other genocides, has prompted the Turkish government to redouble its
efforts to deny any role in the deaths, she said.
But some Armenian-Americans still hope that Turkey eventually will
acknowledge the genocide.
"Even the Turkish people are out there protesting," Ohannessian said.