Massis Weekly Online
MassisWeekly.com
VOLUME 26, NO. 51 (1301)
SATURDAY, JANUARY 27, 2007
– Tens of Thousands Attend Dink Funeral In Istanbul
– Thousands Of Armenians Mourn Hrant Dink in Yerevan
– SDHP Sarkis Dkhrouni Union Protest March
– Southern Californian Armenian Community Mourns Hrant Dink
– Hrant Dink?s Final Article
– Elegy For An Armenian
– Armenia:College Bribery Rife
——
– Tens of Thousands Attend Dink Funeral In Istanbul
Some 100,000 people thronged the streets of Istanbul on Tuesday to take part
in the funeral of outspoken Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink whose
assassination sparked an uproar in Turkey and around the world.
Dink?s body was laid to rest at a local Armenian cemetery at the end of a
huge funeral procession that stretched for several kilometers and shut down
much of central Istanbul.
The procession, broadcast live by Turkish television and retransmitted by
Armenia?s state-run First Channel, began outside the offices of Dink?s
?Agos? weekly newspaper, the scene of Friday?s deadly shooting that shocked
many Turks and Armenians.
The crowd greeted a hearse carrying the editor?s coffin, decorated with
flowers, with rapturous applause. Some people also chanted ?Murderous state
must be held accountable!? and ?Shoulder to shoulder against fascism!?
Dink?s widow Rakel, surrounded by her three children, delivered an emotional
speech to the crowd. ?Seventeen or 27, whoever he was, the murderer was once
a baby,? she said, referring to a teenage man who has confessed to killing
her prominent husband.
?Unless we can question how this baby grew into a murderer, we cannot
achieve anything.? The mourners then marched behind the coffin to the
Armenian cathedral where a religious service was held before the burial.
Many of them carried black-and-white placards reading, ?We are all Hrant
Dinks? and ?We are all Armenians,? in Turkish and Armenian.
Patriarch Mesrob II Moutafian, the spiritual leader of Turkey?s
60,000-strong Armenian community, presided over the service attended by
Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin, Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu
and other senior Turkish officials. Armenia, which the Turkish government
invited to the ceremony, was represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Arman
Kirakosian. He delivered a letter
of condolences and a wreath sent by Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian to the
Dink family.
In a speech read out in Armenian and Turkish, Patriarch Moutafian thanked
the Turkish authorities for promptly arresting the presumed perpetrator of
the killing and for ?standing by the grieving family of the deceased and our
community at this difficult moment.? ?But this is not enough. The real
masterminds of the crime must also be identified,? he said, indicating his
belief that the 17-year-old suspect, Ogun Samast, could not have acted on
his own. Patriarch Moutafian also stressed that individuals like Dink, who
openly question official Ankara?s vehement denial of the 1915 Armenian
genocide, should not only be spared death but also ?not be tried and
imprisoned.? It was a clear reference to a six-month suspended prison
sentence handed to Dink under a highly controversial Turkish law dealing
with ?insults to Turkishness.? Turkey is under growing international
pressure to scrap the clause.
?It is our expectation that our state and the Turkish people will not forget
that we Armenians have lived in these lands for thousands of years and are
now citizens of the Turkish Republic, and that they will not regard us as
aliens and potential enemies,? continued the Armenian patriarch. ?We also
hope that efforts, starting from textbooks and schools, will be made to
eliminate notions portraying us as enemies.?
Turkish authorities took tight security measures for the massive outpouring
of grief, deploying hundreds of police along the eight-kilometer route from
the ?Agos? office to the Armenian church of Virgin Mary. Snipers could be
seen positioned on the rooftops of nearby buildings and a police helicopter
roared overhead during the funeral procession.
– Hrant Dink Assasinated
Hrant Dink was shot dead outside his newspaper office in Istanbul on Friday.
Dink, a frequent target of nationalist anger for his comments on the mass
killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War One, was shot as he
left his weekly ?Agos? around 1300 GMT in central Istanbul.
Dink was shot three times in the head and neck. Muharrem Gozutok, a
restaurant owner near the newspaper, said the assailant looked about 20,
wore jeans and a cap and shouted ?I shot the non-Muslim? as he left the
scene. Protesters outside the ?Agos? office on one of Istanbul?s busiest
streets chanted ?the murderer government will pay? and ?shoulder-to-shoulder
against fascism?. Television footage showed Dink?s body lying in the street
covered by a white sheet, with hundreds of bystanders gathering behind a
police cordon. ?This bullet was fired against Turkey … an image has been
created about Turkey that its Armenian citizens have no safety,? said CNN
Turk editor Taha Akyol.
The attack provoked widespread international condemnation, with the European
Union urging Turkish authorities to fully investigate the ?brutal act of
violence.? Dink was ?a campaigner for freedom of expression in Turkey,? EU
Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said in a statement. ?I trust that the
Turkish authorities will fully investigate this crime and will bring the
perpetrators to justice,? Rehn stressed.
The United States was also quick to express concern. ?Clearly this is a
tragic incident,? State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey told
reporters. Casey said that while he has no information on who was
responsible and Turkish authorities are still investigating the shooting,
Dink?s slaying ?does raise some concerns? for the United States. ?This was
an individual who had received threats for his writing,? he said.
In Yerevan Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said Armenia, which Dink visited
regularly, is ?deeply shocked? by the news. ?We categorically condemn this
act, regardless of the circumstances, and call on the Turkish authorities
indeed to do everything to identify those responsible,? Oskanian said in a
statement.
?A bullet has been fired at democracy and freedom of expression. I condemn
the traitorous hands behind this disgraceful murder,? Prime Minister Tayyip
Erdogan said. ?This was an attack on our peace and stability.? Erdogan told
a hastily called news conference in Ankara that two people were detained in
connection with the murder.
The attack is bound to raise political tensions in would-be EU member
Turkey, where politicians of all parties have been courting the nationalist
vote ahead of presidential elections in May and parliamentary polls due by
November.
Turkey?s main stock market index fell sharply on the news.
– Murder Suspect Arrested
Turkish prosecutors say the teenager suspected of murdering Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink has confessed. Ogun Samast was arrested after he was
identified by his father from CCTV images taken near the scene of Friday?s
killing in Istanbul.
Prosecutors say he confessed after being detained in the Black Sea port of
Samsun, before he was returned to Istanbul for further questioning. Istanbul
governor Muammer Guler announced the details of the capture in a live
television broadcast late on Saturday.
He said police captured Ogun Samast, aged 16 or 17, late on Saturday on a
bus in Samsun still carrying the gun allegedly used in the murder. He was
apparently returning to his hometown of Trabzon from Istanbul.
Six other suspects were picked up in Trabzon and four have been returned to
Istanbul.
One was named as Yasin Hayal, a friend of Ogun Samast, who has spent 11
months in jail for a 2004 bomb attack outside a McDonald?s restaurant in
Trabzon.
Ogun Samast was identified by his own father when he saw television images
taken by a security camera near the scene of the murder. Turkish television
showed images of a young man apparently
running from the scene, tucking what officials said was a gun into his belt.
– Thousands Of Armenians Mourn Hrant Dink in Yerevan
Thousands of people took to the streets of Yerevan to pay homage to the
slain Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink on Wednesday. A large crowd of
mourners marched through the city center to the hilltop memorial of the
Armenian Genocide. Some of them carried Dink?s pictures and banners holding
the Turkish authorities responsible for his shock assassination.
The choice of the final point of the demonstration, organized by the
Armenian Writers? Union and the Yerevan municipality, was meant as a tribute
to Dink?s public calls for Turkish recognition of the Armenian genocide
which are believed to have cost him life. ?We want the world to know that
the genocide is continuing,? said one woman.
?I hope that Hrant Dink was the last victim of the genocide,? said another
protester, a 14-year-old boy.
– SDHP Sarkis Dkhrouni Union Protest March
Large crowds attended a protest in Yerevan on January 23 decrying the murder
of prominent Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in Turkey. The protest was held
by the Social Democratic Hnchakian party?s Sarkis Dkhrouni student
association and The Yerevan State University Student Council.
The organizers of the protest pointed out that it is not of principal
importance who the murderers are, however, the murder is the result of a
continued policy of denial toward the Armenian Genocide and establishment of
a falsified history by the Turkish Government. ?The predominate feeling of
hatred toward Armenians in Turkey and the unwillingness of the Turkish
government to recognize the crimes that were committed against the Armenians
in 1915 is the cause of this murder? said Sahak Manukyan the chairman of the
Sarkis Dkhrouni youth organization. ?The Turkish regime is above all
responsible of Mr. Dink?s murder.?
?How can a nation that murders one of the very few journalists who was not
afraid to openly speak about the Armenian Genocide call itself Democratic
and join the European Union?? added Manukyan ?We urge the European Union to
reject dialogue of Turkish membership until Turkey acknowledges the
appalling actions of its ancestors, acts to rectify those actions and truly
establishes democratic principles.?
The protesters also presented a letter of condemnation to European Union
officials in Armenia.
– Southern Californian Armenian Community Mourns Hrant Dink
The news of the assassination of Hrant Dink, prominent Turkish Armenian
intellectual and editor in chief of the Agos newspaper in Turkey pulsated
throughout the world and shook the Southern California Armenian community
prompting hundreds of thousands to mourn the loss and remember the man who
has been hailed by many as a martyr of free speech.
The Western Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church held a special vigil
Friday at the Diocesan headquarters in Burbank with over 300 hundred
mourners present. A brief video presentation of Dink?s recent visit to the
Diocese on November 5 was shown to the audience made up of community
activists, leaders and members. In the video Dink proclaimed that just like
any other human he was at times scared of the reaction his position on the
Armenian Genocide would bring about in Turkey.
Following the vigil at the Diocesan headquarters, the Armenian American
community held a candlelight vigil in memory of Hrant Dink in front of the
Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles. The event which was organized by the
Armenian Assembly of America, Armenian Council of America and the Social
Democrat Hunchakian ?Gaidz? Youth Organization brought together Armenian
Americans of all age groups and political affiliations from throughout the
southland.
The organizers voiced their dismay towards the brutal murder of an
exceptional human being, civil rights advocate and the rising leader of
marginalized Armenians in Turkey. ?Hrant Dink?s voice was silenced by
assassinating him, but the truth that he represented has become amplified
and each of us has the duty to be ambassadors of this truth, said Narine
Zardarian, Community Relations Director of the Armenian Assembly. ?We are
here today, to embrace that responsibility and to acknowledge that this is
not just an Armenian issue, but a human rights cause!?
Chris Garsevanian chairman of the SDHP ?Gaidz? youth organization added: ?We
must continue pressing the Armenian Cause internationally. Turkey must come
to grips with its past and must change its tone towards its minorities,
Armenians and Armenia. A crime was committed in 1915
and now in 2007. The cause of both crimes are the same, thus Turkey must not
only prosecute the assassin of Hrant Dink, but must prosecute its own
history.?
– Joint Commemorative Event
Over 800 community members gathered at the St. Mary?s Apostolic Church hall
in Glendale Sunday evening to express their united condemnation of Dink?s
slaying.
The gathering was jointly organized by the Western Executive Committees of
the Social Democratic Hunchakian party, the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation, Armenian Democratic League (Ramgavar party), Western Diocese and
Prelacy, the Organization of Istanbul Armenians, Armenian Society of Los
Angeles (Iranahye Miutiun) and the Organization of Iraqi Armenians.
Dink?s biography and career as a pioneer journalist was discussed by Simon
Acilacoghlu of the Organization of Istanbul Armenians. Following the
presentation representatives of the three major political parties expressed
their condolences and condemned the killing as an act against all Armenians,
and that such a crime will not deter Armenians from further pursuing the
Armenian Cause. ?We can unequivocally state that the Turkish government has
full responsibility toward the assassination, regardless of the motives of
the assassin and the forces behind it. When a country systematically
discriminates against its minorities, stifles freedom of speech and incites
hatred against
Armenians it creates an atmosphere of hatred and intolerance which
encourages extremists and chauvinists to act with impunity.? Said Dr. Hampik
Sarafian, member of the Western Executive Committee of the Social Democratic
Hunchakian party. ?If the Assassin?s intention was to silence justice and
truth with bullets then he was gravely mistaken. Witness the thousands of
people around the lifeless body of Hrant Dink chanting ?we are all
Armenians, we are all Hrant Dink.??
– Joint Declaration On Hrant Dink’s Murder
Noted Armenian intellectual and editor of the Agos newspaper, on Friday,
January 19, fell victim to the vicious bullet of a Turk, creating widespread
anger in the Armenian world and the international community.
It is a reality that Hrant Dink was murdered because of:
Using his right to free expression and for having the conviction to speak
the truth
His unwavering position on recognition of the Armenian Genocide
His opposition to the Turkish government’s policy of discrimination against
its minorities and its ultra-nationalist posturing.
To avoid the assassination of new Hrant Dinks, we demand that:
The Turkish government end its denial of the Genocide and its policies of
discrimination The Turkish state reexamine those elements of its
constitution and laws–especially Article 301–that prevent it from being a
part of civilized society The US government end its policy of denial of the
Armenian Genocide, which fuels Turkey’s ability to continue its policies.
Finally, we hope that the academic community in Turkey will continue its
just and humane approach demonstrated in the wake of Dink’s murder, and will
serve as the basis for Dink’s ideal that Turkey completely own up to its
history and its ramifications, especially the un-refutable fact of the
Armenian Genocide.
Social Democratic Hunchakian Party
Western US Executive Committee
Armenian Revolutionary Federation
Western US Central Committee
Armenian Democratic League
Western US Regional Executive
– Hrant Dink?s Final Article
The following are extracts from the final article by Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink, published in his newspaper Agos on 19 January, the
day he was shot dead in Istanbul.
At first when an investigation was launched against me for insulting
Turkishness I did not feel troubled. This was not the first time… I had
complete trust in what I?d written and what my intentions had been.
Once the prosecutor had the chance to evaluate the text of my editorial as a
whole, not that single sentence which made no sense by itself, he would
understand that I had no intention of ?insulting Turkishness? and this
comedy would come to an end. I was sure of myself.
But surprise! A lawsuit was filed…In covering every hearing the
newspapers, editorials and television programs all referred to how I had
said that ?the blood of the Turk is poisonous?.
Each time, they were adding to my fame as ?the enemy of the Turk?.
In the corridors of the courthouse, the fascists physically attacked me with
racist curses. They bombarded me with insults. Hundreds of threats hailed
down for months by phone, email and post increasing all the time.
I persevered through all this with patience awaiting the decision that would
acquit me. Then the truth would prevail and all those people would be
ashamed of what they had done. ?False information? My only weapon was my
sincerity.
But when the decision came out my hopes were crushed. From then on, I was in
the most distressed situation a person could possibly be in. The judge had
made a decision in the name of the ?Turkish nation? and had it legally
registered that I had ?denigrated Turkishness.? I could have coped with
anything but this.
In my understanding, the denigration of a person on the basis of any
difference – ethnic or religious ? is racism, and there was no way this
could ever be forgiven… Those who tried to single me out and weaken me
have succeeded. With the false information they oozed into society, they
created a significant segment of the population who view Hrant Dink as
someone who ?insults Turkishness?.
The memory of my computer is filled with angry, threatening lines sent by
citizens from this sector… How real are these threats? To be honest, it is
impossible for me to know for sure.
What is truly threatening and unbearable for me is the psychological torture
I place myself in. The question that really gets to me, is: ?What are these
people thinking about me??
Unfortunately I am now better known than before and I feel people looking at
me, thinking: ?Oh, look, isn?t he that Armenian guy?? I am just like a
pigeon, equally obsessed by what goes-on on my left and right, front and
back. My head is just as mobile and fast.
?Heaven and hell What did Foreign Minister Gul say? Or Justice Minister
Cicek? ?There is no need to exaggerate about Article 301 (on insulting
Turkishness). Has anyone actually been put in prison??
As if going to prison was the only way to pay the price. This is the price.
This is the price.
Do you ministers know the price of making someone as scared as a pigeon?
What my family and I have been through has not been easy. I have considered
leaving this country at times… But leaving a ?boiling hell? to run to a
?heaven? is not for me. I wanted to turn this hell into heaven. We stayed in
Turkey because that was what we wanted – and out of respect for the
thousands of people here who supported me in my fight for democracy… I am
now applying to the European
Court of Human Rights. I don?t know how long the case will take, but what I
do know is that I will continue living here in Turkey until the case is
finalized.
And if the court rules in my favor I will be very happy and will never have
to leave my country.
2007 will probably be an even harder year for me. The court cases will
continue, new ones will be initiated and God knows what kind of additional
injustices I will have to face. I may see myself as frightened as a pigeon,
but I know that in this country people do not touch pigeons.
Pigeons can live in cities, even in crowds. A little scared perhaps, but
free.
– Elegy For An Armenian
A Tribute To Hrant Dink
By: Adam Garrie, UCLA
The questions with answers that dare not speak,
A life dedicated to all who seek,
To lift the veil from tired eyes,
Craving justice?s shelter from both truth and lies.
The adopted children of a wandering world,
Where dreams are written but scarcely heard,
A warrior armed but with a pen,
And by the bullet met untimely end.
The stewardship of a refugee,
So perhaps a shrunken world could see,
The fields of death whose blood is dry,
When overdue tears do cease to cry.
The debt of honour without a price,
Ignorance for paradise,
The consequence of the words one speaks,
In times of bounty when men grow meek.
But undeterred by time and place,
Running marathons in a thankless race,
A progressing world on a circular track,
History is the shadow behind your back.
Modern men with medieval souls,
Could not hallow such noble goals,
The ancient streets a witness bear,
Soldiers are those who dream to dare.
Time makes legends but martyrs are made by man,
Forgiveness is for the living and those who understand,
The shadow that walks behind you?once was a child too,
Your world is always given?but your path you have to choose.
>From India?s rivers and Persia?s ancient sands,
On both sides of the Bosporus to the New World?s foreign lands,
A people live not by soil but by unspoken fact,
That no swords, empires, or bullets can from this world extract.
With mourning comes tomorrow,
And duty must fulfill,
To answer destiny?s horn call,
That bows before our will.
– Armenia:College Bribery Rife
Survey Exposes a System of Payment For Good Test and Exam Results at Some
Universities
By Karine Asatrian
A group of ten students at Armenia?s State Agrarian University laughed
loudly when asked if there was corruption in their college. ?How can they do
without it?? claimed third year student Armen. Now, the issue of alleged
bribes being given in order to receive good marks has been brought out into
the open after the results of a startling new poll, conducted by the Sargis
Tkhruni Youth Student Union, affiliated to Armenia?s Social Democratic
Hunchakian Party.
Out of 2000 students – five per cent of all the students in Armenia – 1821
said that there was corruption in their colleges, according to the survey.
Sargis Tkhruni Union has already submitted the results of the study to the
country?s education minister and asked him to take action to tackle the
problem. Education Minister Levon Mkrtchian has been non-committal so far.
?We must get an understanding of the quality of this poll,? Mkrtchian told
IWPR.
?If it?s been conducted professionally, we will send the results to colleges
and ask to have them discussed by these colleges? management boards.
?Definitely, if we are convinced that they are serious and well-founded,
and the boards have their say, it is possible that this will raise
organizational issues.? The survey appears to have exposed a system of
?fixed prices? for tests and exams at some universities. Lilit, a third-year
economics student,
said a top exam mark – a ?five?- cost 250 US dollars at her faculty, while a
?four? could be bought for 200 dollars. ?I?ve never had to pay myself, but
I?ve heard about others who did pay,? she said. ?It?s all a matter of
learned habits. If they come to expect to be paid, teachers begin demanding
it themselves. Between themselves, they know who will pay and who won?t. Out
of every 60 students, at least twenty will give a bribe.?
Students told IWPR that prices for good exam results at certain colleges
ranged between 15,000 and 50,000 drams (between 33 and 135 dollars). Anna, a
second-year student, said teachers tended not to demand a bribe openly,
confining themselves to hinting that a student should pay up.
?They tire you to death to make you pay,? she said. One student described
how palms were greased at his college, ?An assistant [lecturer] comes and
names the price. The situation is beneficial to us – we pay, if we are
unable or don?t want to study, and thus escape expulsion.?
Students agree that it is possible to resist giving bribes and that there
are honest teachers, who refuse to be bought. ?There is corruption, but if
you study well and give no bribes, no one will ask you to pay anything,?
said Ruzanna, a political science student. ?If you have knowledge and show
it, not money, to your teacher, you will pass your exams.?
A striking 93 per cent of respondents to the poll suggested that lecturers?
salaries should be increased to discourage them from taking bribes. However,
Laert Hovannisian, pro-rector of Yerevan?s State Engineering University,
said lecturers? salary were not actually so small. ?The situation has
improved, and the average salary amounts to 87,000 drams (230 dollars),? he
said. ?I wouldn?t say this is a lot, but there was a time when we dreamt of
a 100 dollar salary for lecturers.?
Hovannisian said his university was tackling corruption by having students
examined by more than one person or not by the person who was teaching them.
He argues that Armenia should move to the ?credit system? used by most
American universities where marks are accumulated in the course of the year
through course work. In 2005, Armenia joined the Bologna Process, which aims
to regularize academic standards across Europe.
It?s hoped this will lead to the overhaul of the current Soviet-era system
of marking. Most believe that change needs to be implemented from above.
Eighty seven per cent of the polled students said that there should be a
tightening of discipline in the management of higher education
establishments. Some said that the minister of education should be sacked,
others suggested exiling bribe-taking teachers to Siberia. Amalia
Kostandian, head of the Transparency International Armenian office, said
that corruption in higher education was a systemic problem.
?Corruption will persist in the country, the system will remain unhealthy
until a top-down revolution happens,? said Kostandian.
The organiser of the survey, Sahak Manukian, head of Sargis Tkhruni Union,
warns that in the meantime the culture of corruption is very deep-rooted.
?Nowadays those who pass their exams with a bribe are regarded with respect
and envy, and not with pity,? he said. ?Instead of being condemned
these students are examples for others to follow.?
Karine Asatrian is a journalist in Yerevan