MASS DEPARTURE OF ARMENIANS FROM TURKEY NOT EXPECTED

PanARMENIAN.Net
24.01.2008 16:33 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Assassination of Agos editor Hrant Dink, employees
of Zirve Christian edition in Malatia and assault on Catholic priests
aroused anxiety among the Armenian community of Istanbul, said Diran
Bakar, the attorney of the Armenian community. According to him,
the Armenian community can leave Turkey at any time, The Caucasian
Knot reports.

However, Agos newspaper representative in Yerevan Talin Sujian said
the hearsay is not a novelty. "Of course, after the assassination of
Hrant Dink the Armenian community lives in fear but mass departure
is not expected even under circumstances," she told a PanARMENIAN.Net
reporter. "Armenians in Istanbul refrain from clashes with the Turkish
authorities," she said.

Hrant Dink was gunned down on January 19, 2007 nearby his newspaper
office by an ultranationalist Ogun Samast, who was arrested several
hours after the assassination.

Samast and other 18 suspects will stand trial February 2, 2008.