Funeral of slain journalist triggers mass support for a more liberal Turkey
By BENJAMIN HARVEY, Associated Press Writer
Associated Press Worldstream
January 23, 2007 Tuesday 6:33 PM GMT
More than 100,000 people marched in a funeral procession Tuesday for a
slain ethnic Armenian journalist who had angered Turkish nationalists
suggesting the grieving for Hrant Dink may become a catalyst for
liberal values and overcoming a century of antagonism between Turks
and Armenians.
"We are all Armenians" chanted mourners in an extraordinary outpouring
of affection for a journalist who had made enemies by calling the mass
killings of Armenians toward the end of the Ottoman Empire genocide.
Dink was gunned down outside his newspaper Agos in broad daylight on
Friday. The murder triggered a period of intense introspection and
touched off debate about excessive nationalism, free expression and
the ability of Turks of different ethnic backgrounds to live together.
Throngs of mourners marched along the eight-kilometer (five-mile) route
from the offices of Dink’s newspaper, Agos, to an Armenian Orthodox
church virtually shutting down the center of this massive city. Many
participants carried placards that read: "We are all Hrant Dinks."
Marchers took time off from work and school to join the procession,
and thousands leaned out of their office windows to applaud, weep
and throw flowers as the black hearse carrying Dink’s body passed by.
Despite a request from his family not to turn the funeral into a
protest, many also raised their fists at times shouting: "Shoulder
to shoulder against fascism" and "Murderer 301" a reference to the
freedom-curbing Turkish law that was used to prosecute Dink and others
on charges of "insulting Turkishness."
The 52-year-old journalist’s daughter, Sera, carrying a framed portrait
of her father, wept as she walked in front of the coffin.
Dink, the editor of the bilingual Armenian-Turkish newspaper, sought
to encourage reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia. But he chose
a dangerous path by making public statements about the mass killings
of Armenians by Turks in the early 20th century remarks that landed
him in court and prompted death threats.
Comments on that tumultuous period of Turkish history have gotten
several of the country’s most famous thinkers dragged to court.
Among them was novelist Orhan Pamuk, who last year won the Nobel Prize
in literature. The prosecutions have alarmed the European Union which
is considering Turkey’s bid to join but until Tuesday there were few
mass rallies in favor of freedom of speech in Turkey itself.
It was not clear how much momentum the liberal outpouring could
gather. But some believe that if it continues, the implications for
democratic movements in the Islamic world where protests against
terrorism and other acts of violence have been muted could be
significant.
Police were questioning seven suspects, including a teenager, Ogun
Samast, who authorities said has confessed to shooting Dink, and Yasin
Hayal, a nationalist militant convicted in a 2004 bomb attack at a
McDonald’s restaurant. Hayal has confessed to inciting the slaying
and providing a gun and money to the teenager, according to police.
The suspects also include a university student who allegedly "inspired"
the attack, Hurriyet newspaper reported Tuesday. Police confirmed the
report but gave no details. A firm motive has yet to be established,
but many believe Dink was killed for expressing his views.
Dink, one of the most important voices in Turkey’s ethnic Armenian
community, insisted he wanted reconciliation between the two peoples.
"I had no intention of insulting Turkishness," he told The Associated
Press in a telephone interview months before his death. "My only
concern is to improve Armenian and Turkish relations."
He seemed to have achieved that to a certain extent in his death:
Turkey has no diplomatic ties with Armenia but still invited Armenian
officials and religious leaders as well as moderate members of
the diaspora to the funeral. Armenia sent Deputy Foreign Minister
Arman Kirakosian. The Armenian Orthodox Church sent U.S-based Bishop
Khazkah Parsamian. "Hrant Dink was a great advocate in the country
for freedom of speech and for reconciliation, in particular between
Armenians and Turks," Ross Wilson, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey,
told The Associated Press on the sidelines of the funeral procession.
"Judging by what you see on the streets, he did bring the people
together," he said.
In an emotional speech to the crowd in front of the Agos office, Dink’s
wife, Rakel, called for a deeper search for answers to the killing.
"Seventeen or 27, whoever he was, the murderer was once a baby,"
she said. "Unless we can question the darkness that turned this baby
into a murderer, we cannot achieve anything."
In a religious service attended by Armenians and Turks including Deputy
Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin and Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu
Armenian Patriarch Mesrob II called for expanded freedoms of speech
and more dialogue between Turks and Armenians.
"It is mystical that his funeral turned into an occasion where Armenian
and Turkish officials gathered together. He would have been happy to
see this turn into real dialogue," Mesrob said, weeping during part
of his eulogy.
Dink was laid to rest at Istanbul’s Balikli Armenian Cemetery, where
priests chanted in Armenian and mourners applauded as his portrait
was displayed and white doves were released.
"It was an attack against all of us," said Oya Basaran, 52, a school
principal. "We want to live together as brothers. We want to give
the message to the world that the killing does not represent us."
In the Armenian capital, Yerevan, several thousand people gathered
in a square in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, holding ironic placards
reading: "Turkey, This Is Your Path to Europe?"
Many later walked to Yerevan’s massive monuments to the victims
of the World War I-era mass killings of Armenians, placing Dink’s
portrait there.
Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser and Selcan Hacaoglu in Ankara
and Avet Demourian in Yerevan, Armenia, contributed to this report.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
