Kurdish Media, UK
Jan 28 2007

A message to Mr Hrant Dink mourners

1/28/2007 KurdishMedia.com – By Kameel Ahmady

A message to Mr Hrant Dink mourners: Kurdish people are eager for
reconciliation and peaceful respect between ethnicities

It was with sadness that I heard last week of the death of Hrant
Dink, who worked courageously and tirelessly for a Turkey where
understanding and acceptance of diverse cultures, and open dialogue
between ethnicities would triumph, instead of the intractability from
many sides which currently reigns.

Later that week, I was also saddened to read some articles on
websites, statements which for me so missed the point of Hrant’s life
and work. I refer to those that were tinged with an anger and hatred
that seemed to reflect this intractability and betray movement toward
honest and respectful dialogue, both between ethnic groups and with
the state. These were marked by the kind of chauvinism which we see
all too often in (ethnic) nationalist ideologies; focussing on
Kurdish suffering, they do little to empathize with the plight of
Armenians. In conclusion, one such article invited us to view grisly
images, which, though tragically honest in their depiction of the
brutality of the Turkish state, were out of place in the context of a
memorial to one man’s life.

This week at the funeral of Mr. Dink, mourners, in the thousands,
poured into Istanbul’s streets, carrying placards which read `We are
all Armenians now’. Even this was critiqued in mocking tones. Some
have cynically raised the question that it is not reasonable for
Turks to now be claiming kinship with Armenians, since their very
ancestors participated in the genocide of 1915. However, let us not
question or condemn this act out of turn. Cannot people admit to
their past transgressions, and does this not display a will for
future peace? I am sure that it is not necessary to remind my Kurdish
friends that there were some of our people who participated in the
slaughter of their Armenian neighbours perpetrated by the Ottoman
state, just as there were many Kurds who fought to protect and save
Armenians, hiding them in their homes.

Reconciliation calls for honesty, and a real will to respect the
memory and experience of others; to put aside hatreds, however
justified; to acknowledge that we all have elements of good and bad.
The symbolic power of this gesture – `We are all Armenians’ – a
gesture of openness, and yes, even empathy, must not be
underestimated. Indeed, this sort of identification with `the other’
may represent the greatest hope we have seen for a long time in the
battle to overcome inter-ethnic tensions in Turkey. The Turkish state
has been accused of making hasty and false remarks of condolence
which exploit the death of Mr. Dink; I think such statements are no
less guilty of this charge.

While I try to understand and even empathize with life experience in
which violence and oppression lead to such rage, I cannot see it as
justified in this context. Some of us have tried, and should continue
to reaffirm our commitment to working with our friends in the
struggle for democracy and human rights of Kurdish people; this
includes a responsibility to be honest, to give a viewpoint which is
not entrenched in ideology, but in ideals. We should challenge some
of our extreme point of views to bring about change through openness
and goodwill.

Will such statements help to promote the spirit of respect and
communication that Mr. Dink advocated, often alienating him from even
many fellow Armenians? My fear is that they will have the opposite
effect, and indeed might easily be dismissed by detractors as just so
much fanatical ranting.

Worse still, they degrade the memory of Hrant Dink and his
achievements, by flying in the face of all he worked for. Hrant Dink
lived his life and pursued his work with a sense of goodwill and
openness towards all, including those who had been responsible for
the attempted extermination of his people. Surely we can honour his
memory by continuing in this spirit, and in offering the same to our
perceived adversaries.

Let us show the world that the Kurdish people are eager for such
reconciliation and peaceful respect between ethnicities. Let us
embrace the legacy that he left for us.