ANGER OVER ‘DINK KILLING’ SONG
Aljazeera.net, Qatar
Sept 25 2007
A Turkish singer has caused outrage after releasing a song which many
people believe justifies the murder of an ethnic Armenian journalist
in January.
Hrant Dink was shot dead outside his newspaper’s office in Istanbul.
‘Don’t Make Plans’ by Ismail Turut has become one of the most requested
songs one Turkish DJ’s radio show after a clip set to the tune received
thousands of hits on the popular video-sharing website YouTube.
The clip showed pictures of Dink’s body and the suspected killer,
while the lyrics of the song include the line; "If someone betrays
his own country, he’ll be taken care of immediately."
Dink had been criticised for describing the mass killings of Armenians
during the rule of the Ottoman Empire as "genocide" in defiance of
the official Turkish line.
At the time of his murder, Dink was being prosecuted penal code
article which that bans insulting the Turkish identity.
The European Union, which Turkey is hoping to join, has asked Ankara
to remove such restrictions on freedom of expression.
‘Harmless’ song
Turut – who describes himself as a Muslim and a nationalist – has said
he does not approve of Dink’s killing. He also said he had nothing
to do with the YouTube clip and insisted that his song is harmless.
"I feel like a victim in my homeland for defending some of our values"
Ismail Turut, singer Turut was speaking to the Associated Press news
agency the day after he and Arif Ozan, the writer of the song, had
been called to explain the meaning of their work to a prosecutor.
"Even if I have 40 heads and they chop off all of them, I will not
apologise for even a letter [of the song]," Turut said. "Who has been
subject to the slightest of harm because of my song?"
Up to 1.5 million ethnic Armenians were killed between 1915 and 1917.
Armenians say the deaths were part of a co-ordinated programme of
genocide but Turkey insists the numbers are inflated and that the
killings occurred during a time of civil unrest.
Riza Dalkilic, head of Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Association,
has filed a complaint against the song.
"He must apologise," she said.
Turut argues that if there really is freedom of expression in Turkey,
his video should be tolerated.
"I feel like a victim in my homeland for defending some of our values"
he said. "Don’t I have the right to freedom of expression?"
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