Armenian Assembly of America
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Phone: 202-393-3434
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PRESS RELEASE
January 26, 2006
CONTACT: Christine Kojoian
E-mail: ckojoian@aaainc.org

ARMENIAN COMMUNITY, ASSEMBLY HOLD MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR HRANT DINK IN
WASHINGTON

State Department Official Hails Dink For Bridging Armenians, Turks

Washington, DC – More than 200 members of the Armenian community in the
Washington area attended a memorial service Tuesday night for slain
journalist Hrant Dink, whose tragic death last week sent shock waves
throughout the Armenian community. A senior U.S. State Department
official attending the service called Dink "a proud son of the Armenian
people," who advocated for understanding and dialogue between Armenians
and Turks.

Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried expressed awe and admiration
for Dink, saying that he "stood for a civic virtue higher than hatred,
higher than ethnic stereotypes, higher than fears and repression and
ignorance. His was a vision of a better world."

"The measure of how our world falls short must be judged by his murder
at the hands of an ignorant, hate-filled nationalist," he continued.

Turkish journalists, who have been reporting extensively on Dink’s
assassination, also attended the memorial service, broadcasting news of
the commemoration to various media outlets in Turkey and beyond.

Bishop Vicken Aykazian, Legate of the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic
Church of America (Eastern) and Diocesan Director of Ecumenical
Relations, presided over the memorial service with Reverend Father
Vertanes Kalayjian at St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic Church.

"I had the honor of [Hrant Dink’s] personal friendship," said Bishop
Aykazian, who is also president-elect of the National Council of
Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC). "But more than being my personal
friend, he was a friend to all Armenians, in Turkey, and in the Diaspora
Armenian communities throughout the world."

"Hrant Dink called upon the world – and Turkey in particular – to
acknowledge and admit the truth of the Armenian Genocide," the Bishop
continued. "Not to shame or humiliate the Turkish people, but to engage
our two neighboring people in a fruitful dialogue for the betterment of
their relations."

Reverend Father Kalayjian said that Dink was a man who put his life on
the line for his beliefs and convictions. He read, in tribute, a
heartfelt poem authored by Adam Garrie of UCLA.

Executive Director Bryan Ardouny said that the Armenian Assembly grieves
Dink’s tragic death and calls upon people of goodwill to denounce his
assassination and join the Assembly’s efforts to ensure that the cycle
of genocide and its denial ends.

"We remain deeply concerned with Turkey’s continued failure to adopt
standards and practices of both domestic and international conduct that
would reverse and overturn the climate of intolerance, prejudice and
repression as exemplified by Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code which
precipitated this crime," said Ardouny.

"The murder of Hrant Dink challenges America and the rest of the
civilized world to stand up against political violence, and the
atmosphere that fosters it," he added.

Alen J. Salerian, M.D., a longtime friend of Dink’s, said that "[Dink]
is more than a hero, he’s more than a heart. He’s a brain, he’s a
peacemaker, he’s an orphan who became a father and husband and a loving
citizen."

The Armenian Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based
nationwide organization promoting public understanding and awareness of
Armenian issues. It is a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt membership organization.

###

NR#2007-017

Editor’s Note: The full text of the remarks made by Assistant Secretary
of State Daniel Fried, Bishop Vicken Aykazian and Assembly Executive
Director Bryan Ardouny, are attached to this release and also available
on the Assembly Web site at

Adam Garrie’s poem below is also available on the Assembly Web site.

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.

Photographs are available on the Assembly Web site at the following
links:

ss/2007-017/2007-017-1.jpg

Caption: Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried addressed members of
the Armenian-American community at the memorial service on January 23 at
St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic Church in Washington, DC.

007-017-2.jpg

Caption: Bishop Vicken Aykazian, Legate of the Diocese of the Armenian
Apostolic Church of America (Eastern) and Diocesan Director of
Ecumenical Relations, presided over the memorial service. Bishop
Aykazian and Dink were lifelong friends having attended the same
seminary school together.

-017/2007-017-3.jpg

Caption: Reverend Father Vertanes Kalayjian led the memorial service for
Hrant Dink at St. Mary’s Armenian Apostolic Church in Washington, DC.

007-017-4.jpg

Caption: Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny called Hrant Dink a
catalyst for mutual understanding, tolerance and dialogue.