PanARMENIAN.Net

Adam Schiff: Hrant Dink’s courage cost him his life
27.01.2007 14:20 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Caucus Rep. Congressman Adam Schiff has
circulated a letter in Congress addressed to Turkey’s Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, calling upon the members of the House of
Representatives to sign under the letter.

`We write to express our shock and condemnation of the murder of Hrant
Dink, the Armenian-Turkish editor of newspaper `Agos’. We urge you to
personally oversee the investigation into Mr. Dink’s murder and to
ensure that this crime is solved and that those responsible are
punished. The silencing of such a prominent and outspoken voice is not
only a personal tragedy; it is also a tragedy for those who believe in
a free and unfettered press, and those who are committed to a
thoughtful examination of the past. Hrant Dink had the courage to
confront the facts of the Armenian Genocide, and that courage may have
cost him his life. We hope that you will also use the occasion of Mr.
Dink’s murder to repeal the odious law making it a crime to "insult
Turkishness." As you know, Mr. Dink was prosecuted under this law and
was given a six-month suspended sentence in October 2005 after writing
about the Armenian Genocide. Finally, we also ask that you pass on our
deepest condolences to his family and colleagues,’ says Adam Schiff in
his letter, the Armenian Assembly of America reports.