Turks remember slain journalist

Story from BBC NEWS:
europe/7197451.stm

Published: 2008/01/19 15:12:00 GMT

Thousands of people have gathered in the Turkish city of Istanbul to
commemorate the murder last year of ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink.
Flowers were laid and candles lit in the street where Mr Dink was shot
dead, while a huge picture of him covered part of the building where he
worked.

Mr Dink campaigned for his country to confront the mass killings of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I.

Observers say Mr Dink’s stance made him a hate figure for Turkish
nationalists.

Nineteen people, including two leaders of an ultra-nationalist group,
are currently on trial for his murder at a court in Istanbul.

The trial, which began in July, is being held behind closed doors
because the alleged gunman, Ogun Samast, is 17 years old.

Mr Dink’s family has accused the authorities of collusion, and the
court is also considering allegations of a cover-up.

Target

At a short ceremony led by Mr Dink’s close friends and family, crowds
of people marked his murder at 1457 (1257 GMT) on 19 January 2007 with
a moment of silence outside the offices of the Agos newspaper.

You are here for justice today – a scream for justice rises from your
silence
Rakel Dink

Dozens of carnations and candles were laid at the spot where the
53-year-old died.

A huge photograph of Mr Dink covered the newspaper’s building, while
mourners in the street pinned smaller pictures to their chests.

"We are at the pavement where they tried to clean his blood with soap,"
Mr Dink’s widow, Rakel, said in an emotional address from a window in
the newspaper’s office.

"You are here for justice today. A scream for justice rises from your
silence."

The murder of Mr Dink triggered widespread anger and shock in Turkey,
and caused massive crowds to take to the streets, chanting: "We are all
Armenians, we are all Hrant Dinks."

Mr Dink was a hate figure for extreme nationalists and had received
death threats before he was killed.

He was well-known for writing articles about the mass killing of
hundreds of thousands of Armenians by the Ottoman Turks in 1915.

Armenians have campaigned for the killings to be recognised
internationally as genocide, as some countries have done.

Turkey admits that many Armenians were killed but it denies any
genocide, saying the deaths happened during widespread fighting in
World War I.

But the BBC’s Sarah Rainsford in Istanbul says his friends believe it
was his conviction under the controversial Article 301 – for "insulting
Turkishness" – that singled him out as a target.