SERVICE HONORING LIFE AND WORK OF HRANT DINK CHANTED IN NEW YORK

PanARMENIAN.Net
05.03.2007 13:04 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian-American community joined together at
1:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 4, 2007, in New York City’s St. Vartan
Armenian Cathedral for a memorial and requiem service honoring the
life and work of Hrant Dink, the courageous Armenian-Turkish journalist
assassinated outside the office of his newspaper, Agos, in Istanbul on
Friday, January 19, 2007. The service was organized by the Diocese of
the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), the Eastern Prelacy of the
Armenian Apostolic Church of America, the Armenian Catholic Eparchy
of America and the Armenian Missionary Association. The service will
also include remarks by three special guest speakers: Peter Steinfels
of the New York Times, Jeremy Main of the Overseas Press Club, and
Anna Kushner of the PEN American Center who will speak to the courage
of their fellow journalist and the need to protect journalist as they
exercise free speech rights.

"Hrant Dink never believed that it was disloyal to speak the
truth. Indeed, he believed that it was his, and every Turkish citizen’s
duty to seek out and speak the truth. So, with a clear conscience,
a good heart and a talent for writing, Hrant and his colleagues
founded Agos, a bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper dedicated to
responsible journalism and advocacy for peaceful change and dialogue,"
said Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate (or head bishop) of the
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), who traveled to
Istanbul to attend Dink’s funeral last month, reports the AAC Eastern
Diocese communication unit.