Press Release
ANC ( Armenian National Committee ) GB
Navasartian Centre
223 Nortfield Avenue
London W13 9QU
Tel: 0044 208 5672277
E-Mail _haigvartanian@aol.com_ (mailto:haigvartanian@aol.com)
Turkish-Armenian Journalist shot dead in Istanbul
"I will not leave this country.
If I go, I would feel I was leaving alone
the people struggling for democracy"
Hrant Dink – July 2006
Hrant Dink, the editor-in-chief of the bilingual Armenian and Turkish
weekly ‘Agos’ (Furrow) was assassinated on Friday 19th Jan 2007 in
front of his office in Istanbul by a Turkish assassin.
Hrant Dink had repeatedly criticised Turkey for its treatment of its
ethnic minorities and the outright denial of freedom of speech. He
was considered by the outside world as a champion of the cause of
liberalisation of present-day Turkey.
Last year, Dink was convicted under Turkey’s notorious Penal Code
301 of "insulting Turkish identity", a charge that the Writer denied
asserting that the Prosecution had deliberately taken his article
out of context. The EU has demanded that Turkey repeal Penal Code
301 under which Turkey’s famous novelist, Orhan Pamuk was tried, too,
for talking about the 1915 Genocide.
It is inescapable that the Turkish Government have an undeniable
responsibility for this murder, having created an atmosphere of hate
and aggression towards all free Writers, both Turkish and Armenian,
who have the courage to tell the truth about the Armenian Genocide.
We ask the British Authorities, the British public and all freedom
loving people to join us in condemning this politically motivated
murder of Hrant Dink – a brave journalist and a brave Armenian.
His death is a great loss to the freedom of speech and democracy
in Turkey.
VIGIL
In protest of the murder in Istanbul of Hrant Dink , This Thursday
25th January 2007 a vigil will be held from 3-6 pm outside the Turkish
embassy at 43 Belgrave Square , London SW1X 8PA.
We call upon all members of our community to join us to show our
condemnation and solidarity with our community in Turkey.