TIME MAgazine
Jan 24 2007
Editor’s Death Spotlights Turkish Nationalism
Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2007 By PELIN TURGUT/ISTANBUL Article
ToolsPrintEmailReprints The murder of Armenian-Turkish journalist
Hrant Dink has put Turkish nationalism in the spotlight. The suspect,
17-year-old Ogun Samast, was quoted by newspapers as telling police
he shot Dink because the journalist insulted the Turkish nation.
Local papers are reporting that Samast was allegedly linked to a
small ultranationalist group in his hometown, Trabzon, on the Black
Sea Coast. "Those who created nationalist sentiment in Turkey have
fed such a monster that there are many youngsters on the streets who
do not find the … state nationalist enough and are ready to take
the law into their own hands," wrote Ismet Berkan in his daily column
in Radikal, one of Turkey’s main dailies.
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Nationalism in Turkey has been fueled in recent years by the lukewarm
reception of Turkey’s bid for membership in the European Union. Many
in Europe have voiced misgivings over embracing the populous, mostly
Muslim (although officially secular) country. The accession process,
which began with great optimism in 2004, has slowed significantly in
recent months. With Europe appearing ever distant, ambitious
politicians on all sides have stepped up their nationalist,
ethnocentric rhetoric ahead of elections slated for November this
year. The country’s right-wing parties especially have gained
strength. So much so that even traditional leftist organizations like
the Republican People’s Party are campaigning on a nationalist
program. Its leader Deniz Baykal has spoken out against the European
Union and legislation for religious minorities. He has even opposed
lifting an anti-free speech law under which Dink and Nobel
prize-winning novelist Orhan Pamuk were prosecuted.
The E.U. wants Turkey to abolish that law, Article 301, which is used
by nationalist prosecutors and lawyers to charge writers and
journalists with "insulting Turkishness." At Dink’s funeral today,
many in the procession carried posters that read "301 is the real
killer." "His murder has started some soul-searching," says Hakan
Altinay, director of the Open Society Institute in Turkey. "Turks
need to look at themselves and ask how they could have bred the
xenophobia and paranoia that would lead a kid to do this. Everyone
has some degree of responsibility here."
Dink, 52, a widely respected journalist and editor of Agos, a Turkish
and Armenian newspaper, was gunned down in front of his office in
central Istanbul on Friday. He had been branded a "traitor" by
nationalists for his comments on the mass deaths of Armenians in the
then Ottoman Empire during World War I. Hundreds of thousands of
Armenians died in 1915, in what many Armenians – like Dink – say was
systematic policy. Turkey denies any claim of genocide and says the
deaths were part of a partisan conflict in which thousands of Turks
were also killed.
But Dink’s murder may yet serve as a wake-up call. Since Friday, tens
of thousands of people have flocked to his newspaper offices to pay
their respects, many chanting slogans like "We are all Armenians." On
Tuesday, thousands filled the streets to pay homage to Dink, carrying
the same signs. "Everybody here feels responsible," said Ayse Sivri,
a 21-year-old student. "We all saw this coming, but nobody did
anything to prevent it."