Hürriyet, Turkey
Nov 15 2008
Murdered journalist’s son condemns minister
ISTANBUL – Arat Dink and the defense minister both agree that the
population exchanges involving thousands of Turks, Greeks and
Armenians are what made the country what it is today. The disagreement
is on the nature of the consequences.
If the Greeks and Armenians had stayed in Turkey after World War I,
the country would not have been the same; it would have been much
better, said the son of murdered Armenian Turkish journalist Hrant
Dink in a column in daily Taraf on Friday.
Arat Dink, the executive editor of Armenian weekly Agos, the newspaper
was founded and headed by his father, Hrant, until Hrant was shot dead
by a teenage nationalist in January last year. A Prime Ministry report
last week said the murder could have been avoided if authorities had
taken certain measures.
Arat Dink’s remarks came only days after Defense Minister Vecdi
Gönül, while at a NATO meeting in Brussels, asked, "If
Greeks had stayed on in the Aegean region or Armenians all over the
country, would we have been the same nation-state?"
Support or not?
The comments, interpreted as tacit support for the population exchange
between Greece and Turkey in 1922 after the Independence War, resulted
in swift condemnation from civil groups and the more liberal media in
Turkey. Greek media headlined the story, "Admission of ethnic
cleansing."
In his article, Arat Dink said Gönül had merely voiced a
fact, however, the way he expressed this fact showed he interpreted
the lack of Armenians and Greeks in Turkey as a positive part of the
nation-building process.
In his answer to Gönül’s question, Arat said, "No, the
country would not have been the same. It would have been super. Even
if nothing changed at least you would not be defense minister. If you
were, you would not even have thought what you said. If you had
thought it, you would not dare say it. If you did, you would not stay
defense minister for long."
Dink said Gönül was describing the lack of Greeks and
Armenians as positive. He added, "There is also an interesting often
forgotten fact. We are still here. We are few, but we are here. Is the
minister implying we should go too?"
The fact that Greeks and Armenians who lived in Anatolia before World
War I owned most of the good land in the country cannot be used as an
excuse, said Arat Dink, adding, "This theory confuses me even
more. Were they moved out because they owned good land or was their
removal a security matter?" He said the oath recited by primary school
students every week, dedicating their existence to the country, should
be altered for children going to schools for minorities. Dink said
those children should shout, "I dedicate my disappearance to the
country."
PM faces tough choice on Dink murder
The prime minister has received a report stating the murder of Turkish
Armenian journalist Hrant Dink could have been prevented, reported the
daily Milliyet on Friday.
The Prime Ministry inspector board’s report to Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip ErdoÄ?an said Dink’s murder in January last year could
have been avoided had senior security officials responded to the
intelligence gathered on the plans for the murder.
If ErdoÄ?an agrees, investigations may start against Istanbul
Police Chief Celalettin Cerrah, Trabzon gendarmerie commander at the
time of the murder, Col. Ali Ã-z, and then Trabzon Police chief
Ramazan Akyürek, whose failure to act upon the intelligence was
deemed crucial in the failure to prevent the murder.
The PM office’s inspector board took action upon the letter of Dink’s
wife, Rakel Dink, who demanded ErdoÄ?an not let the case be
covered up.
The report noted the inciter of the Dink murder, Yasin Hayal, who
bombed a McDonalds in Trabzon in October 2004, communicated over a
different phone line that was electronically tapped at the time of
bombing.
An informer working for the Police, Erhan Tuncel was influential in
the McDonalds bombing, the report concluded. "If Tuncel’s role in the
McDonald’s bombing could have been solved, the Dink murder might have
been prevented," it said.
The report identified several acts of negligence by security
officials, who failed to act in time to prevent the murder.