MOURNING AN ARMENIAN-TURKISH EDITOR
By James Vaznis, Globe Staff

Boston Globe, MA
March 5 2007

Both sides of debate reflect on his legacy

WATERTOWN — As the nearly century-old debate rages half a world away
about whether Turks committed genocide against Armenians, members of
both cultures came together yesterday to commemorate what some see
as the latest casualty of the conflict.

Hrant Dink, an Armenian-Turkish editor, was slain in Istanbul in
January. His newspaper columns had long demanded respect and improved
conditions for Armenians and recognition of the deep and tortured
history of Armenians in Turkey. Dink was gunned down in broad daylight
Jan. 19 on a sidewalk outside his office — allegedly by a teenage boy.

Hundreds of Armenian-Americans — and some Turkish-Americans —
gathered yesterday for a commemoration known as a Karsunk, the
traditional end of the mourning period of a person’s death and an
opportunity to reflect on a person’s legacy.

Many expressed optimism that Dink’s death will enable Armenians to
gain worldwide recognition of a genocide they say Turks began against
their people in 1915 , resulting in the deaths of an estimated 1.3
million Armenians.

"His legacy is for Armenians to live side by side with Turks without
retribution," said Tamar Barkhordarian, a nurse from Watertown. "He
risked his life for freedom of speech."

His death prompted tens of thousands people, including empathetic
Turks, to walk in silence through the streets of Istanbul on the day
of his funeral.

"He had the guts and courage to speak about human rights and to speak
about the injustice that has been done to the Armenian ancestry of
Turkey," said Apo Torosyan, an artist from Peabody. "He knew his life
was in danger by speaking out."

Some Armenian-Americans declined to be interviewed for this story
in fear that Turkish government officials would punish relatives who
live in the country.

But in a show of support, some Turkish-Americans and Turks turned
out for the commemoration.

"Everybody was horrified by his murder," said Gunduz Vassaf, a former
psychology professor who was born in Boston, and later added, "It’s
a conscience of a nation bleeding, and it led to this outpouring."

During a service yesterday at the orthodox St. James Armenian Apostolic
Church, mourners compared Dink to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and
said a prayer in Dink’s honor. Then, well-wishers attended a luncheon
in a gymnasium next door, nibbling on sandwiches and some Armenian
dishes, such as grape leaves stuffed with rice and onions.

A few Armenian-Americans circulated a flier asking people to call
members of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and urge them
to pass legislation condemning Dink’s murder as well as pushing for
the Turkish government to repeal a law that hinders free speech,
especially in talking about the Armenian genocide.

The gymnasium was adorned with pictures of Dink, candlelight vigils
in his honor, and even of his body covered with a white sheet on a
sidewalk after he was killed.

After the luncheon, state Representative Rachel Kaprielian said
in an interview that Dink was a person who comes around "once in a
blue moon."

"He was a person whose values were more important than his own life,"
she said. "He knew for many years his life was in danger for saying
what he knew was the truth."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress