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Letter by Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian to the "Agos" Newspaper’s
Editorial, marking the first annivesary of murder of "Agos" editor-in-chief
Hrat Dink.
Published in "Agos" and "Zaman" newspapers
By VARTAN OSKANIAN
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia
I can confess that I have lived two deep and unforgettable shocks during my
years in this office — once in 1999 when the stability of Armenia was
threatened by gunmen and the second time last year when I received the call
that Hrant Dink had been assassinated. Both were attacks not on men, but on
ideas and values.
Hrant’s murder was an assault at democratic state-building – of the Turkish
state. His murderers took aim at his vision of a Turkey that allowed free
speech, that tolerated open discourse, and that embraced its minority
citizens, like himself.
We miss Hrant. He would come to Armenia a couple of times a year. In
September 2006, when he spoke at the third Armenia Diaspora Conference, his
message was that as members of the European family, Turkey and Armenia would
have normal relations, because even the unwilling in Turkey would be induced
to find a way to dialogue. That was music to our ears, echoing as it did our
own wishes.
He also addressed the "International Conference on the 90th Anniversary of
the Armenian Genocide" we held in Yerevan in April, 2005. Everyone respected
his ardent, reasoned plea for dialogue, for distinguishing between today’s
Turkish Republic and the perpetrators of atrocities nearly 100 years ago. He
recounted passionately how he had explained to Turkish authorities that
Armenians are looking for their roots – the same roots which the Ottoman
Empire slashed when it attempted to completely eradicate a people and tear
it away from its home, its culture and its traditions.
Each time he came to Yerevan, we would find a few minutes to talk. It was
important that I hear from him about the mood in Turkey. Hrant was the right
person to ask, because he was not just an Armenian living in Turkey. He was
proud of both his identities – Turkish and Armenian – and was insulted and
angered that while trying to reconcile them he was accused of ‘insulting
Turkishness’.
When he was first charged under Article 301 for ‘insulting Turkishness’, I
asked whether it would help if I wrote a letter or spoke publicly. He
responded confidently. "My thanks and gratitude, but right now, I’m all I
need. So help me God, I’m going to take my struggle and my rights all the
way to the end."
Later, he wondered how "On the one hand, they call for dialogue with Armenia
and Armenians, on the other hand they want to condemn or neutralize their
own citizen who is working for dialogue."
Hrant Dink was candid and courageous, but not naive. Still, he could not
have predicted this kind of ‘neutralization’. His honest and brave voice
was silenced. Worse, some saw in this assassination a clear message that the
danger they face lies deeper than a mere judicial conviction.
This message is just one of the dividends that this killing offered those
who contributed to the fanatical nationalist environment which colors
Turkish politics in and out of Turkey. The brutality, the impunity, the
violence of Hrant’s murder serves several political ends. First, it makes
Turkey less interesting for Europe, which is exactly what some in the
Turkish establishment want. Second, it scares away Armenians and other
minorities in Turkey, from pursuing their civil and human rights. Third, it
scares those bold Turks who are beginning to explore these complicated,
sensitive subjects in earnest.
In Armenia, we have insisted for more than a decade, that although we are
the victims of historical injustice, and although we are on the other side
of a border that Turkey has kept closed, we are prepared at any time for
dialogue with our neighbor on any subject, so long as there are normal
relations between us, so long as this last closed border in Europe is
opened, so long as someone on the other side wants to talk. We are ready.
A year ago, we were moved by the outpouring of fundamental, human grief at
all levels of Turkish society, especially by those who have been scared by
the demonstration of such violence on the part of an adolescent, and seen it
for what it is — the continuation of hatred and enmity into the next
generation.
Hrant Dink’s family, his colleagues at and around Agos, his friends in
Armenia and in Turkey, will find some comfort knowing that today and
tomorrow, Hrant will be remembered – by Armenians, who share his vision of
understanding and harmony among peoples, and by Turks, who share his dream
of living in peace with neighbors and with history.