Voices Weekly, Turkey
Jan 26 2007

Thousands mourn Hrant Dink’s death
Posted on Cuma, Ocak 26 @ 21:37:03 EET by editor

THE cold-blooded assassination of Armenian journlist Hrant Dink in
Istanbul caused shockwaves around the world. His murder caused a wave
of outrage in Armenia, with calls for a new dialogue between the
countries.

Turkey itself has been shocked by the assassination. Tens of
thousands of people attended his funeral on January 23. Dink, an
ethnic Armenian and a Turkish citizen, had done much to encourage
dialogue between Armenians and Turks on difficult historical issues.
Many carried placards reading "We are all Hrant Dink." Turkey’s prime
minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday paid a personal call to the
family of Hrant Dink. Erdogan stayed over one hour at Dink’s home to
pay his respects – far longer than his scheduled visit of 20 minutes.
He then visited Armenian Patriarch Mesrob II to extend his
condolences over Dink’s killing. Dink was murdered on January 19, but
the next day, Turkish police arrested a teenager identified as Ogun
Samast from the eastern city of Trabzon. Samast is reported to have
confessed to the crime and said that he was motivated by reports that
Dink had said that "Turkish blood is dirty." Armenian President
Robert Kocharian offered his condolences to Hrant Dink’s family and
friends, saying, "The murder of a famous journalist in Turkey is
deeply reprehensible." All the churches of the Armenian Apostolic
Church held requiems for Dink, and political, cultural and
journalistic circles all expressed shock. Dink had worked as
editor-in-chief of the bilingual Armenian-Turkish newspaper Agos in
Istanbul since 1996. He had been charged several times under the
controversial article 301 of Turkey’s penal code, "insulting
Turkishness." Dink trod a careful line, expressing loyalty to Turkey
while asserting his right to a distinct Armenian identity. Armenia
and Turkey have no diplomatic relations and their common border has
been closed ever since Turkey shut it in April 1993, when Armenian
forces occupied the Azerbaijani district of Kelbajar during the war
over Nagorny Karabakh. However, a lot of business still goes on
between the two countries, mainly via Georgia. Some estimates suggest
that 30,000 Armenian citizens have temporary jobs in Turkey. Most
experts agree that the murder marks a critical point in
Armenian-Turkish relations and that the way the issue is handled will
be important. American-Armenian analyst Richard Giragosian said: "It
is not the murder of Hrant Dink that is now a challenge to the
Turkish state; it is the way the Turkish authorities handle the
impact of his death that is most important."

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