BACKGROUNDER: ARMENIAN EDITOR MURDER TRIAL RAISES KEY ISSUES IN TURKEY
BBC Monitoring research
29 Jun 07
Backgrounder by Lewis Macleod of BBC Monitoring on 29 June
The trial of 18 accused in the murder in January 2007 of Hrant Dink,
a Turkish journalist of Armenian descent, has become a focus for the
often troubled issue of Turkish-Armenian relations.
The trial begins on 2 July and the indictment calls for life sentences
for two alleged ringleaders and 18-24 years in jail for the 17-year-old
accused of carrying out the shooting.
Issues
The issues raised by Dink’s death and the upcoming trial of those
accused of killing him are critical for Turkey’s future. Damage to
Turkey’s long-standing application to join the EU and its reputation
as a Muslim majority country that is both secular and democratic are
thought to be among the potential consequences.
New French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said that he sees no place
in Europe for Turkey and advocates a form of partnership instead.
Pressure groups such as the New York-based Committee to Protect
Journalists condemned the assassination as an affront to press freedom,
while others saw the killing as a warning to minority groups in Turkey,
whose Armenian community numbers around 60,000.
Article 301
Dink was the editor of Agos, an Istanbul-based newspaper, which
despite its small print run had an influence far in excess of its
circulation of around 6,000.
Despite being regarded as an Armenian champion in Turkey, Dink always
stressed that the country had to move on from what he called the
"1915-metre deep well" of relations between Armenia and Turkey which
derive from Ottoman-era allegations over massacres in that year of
Christian Armenians by Muslim Turks.
Dink argued that a secular approach was needed that was in keeping
with both countries’ aspirations to join the EU and a more modern
liberal approach. He also spoke out for women’s rights and the rights
of the Kurdish minority in Turkey. By publishing Agos in both Turkish
and Armenian, the only paper in Turkey to do so, Dink had sought
to open a channel of communication to Turkish society at large and
encourage dialogue.
But he was put on trial and found guilty for "insulting Turkishness"
in 2005. Dink was given a six-month suspended sentence, which he
called a "bad joke". Article 301 of Turkey’s Penal Code makes it a
crime to insult Turkish identity in a country where nationalism is
a strong political undercurrent.
At his trial, ultra-nationalist Turks demonstrated outside the
courtroom, and Dink said that his computer was full of death
threats. Dink had appealed to the European Court of Human Rights
in Strasbourg on the grounds that Article 301 was discriminatory
and in violation of citizens’ rights to freedom of expression. With
his assassination on 19 January 2007 outside the offices of Agos,
the case was closed.
Reaction to killing
Reaction to the killing was profound. Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayip Erdogan said: "The dark hands that killed him will be found
and punished", condemning the assassination as an attack on Turkey’s
unity. President Ahmet Necdat Sezer spoke out strongly against
"this ugly and shameful act". The Turkish Foreign Ministry in a
statement "offered condolences to the people of Turkey, its press,
and particularly to the Armenian community and Dink’s family".
The leading Hurriyet daily said "the murderer is a traitor" and
Milliyet said "it was Turkey that was shot dead". Many newspapers
blamed the killing on the nationalist atmosphere created by the media
around Dink’s trial. Over 100,000 people attended his funeral, some
chanting "we are all Armenian, we are all Hrant Dink," according to
the BBC.
The trial will again highlight the troubled relations between Turkey
and Armenia in the international arena, and place issues such as
the rule of law, tolerance and the treatment of minorities under
renewed scrutiny.