COMMEMORATION CEREMONIES FOR SLAIN JOURNALIST

Hurriyet
Jan 19 2009
Turkey

ISTANBUL – Slain Turkish- Armenian journalist Hrant Dink will be
commemorated on the second anniversary of his murder.

A group who called themselves "Hrant’s Friends" have long been calling
for people to gather in front of the weekly multilingual newspaper
Agos in central Å~^iÅ~_li, where Dink was killed.

"We will gather together as citizens who believe in the fraternity of
people regardless of any differences in religion, language, race,
gender and political views," the newspaper advertisement of the
group stated. The group will meet at 2.30 p.m. under the slogan,
"For Hrant, for justice." Dink was the editor-in-chief of Agos.

Singer Å~^evval Sam will perform a Peace Concert on Jan. 22 at Taksim
Ghetto in commemoration of Dink. Sam will perform songs in several
languages including Armenian, Turkish, Kurdish, and Syriac.

Meanwhile, a group of around 100 people in the central Anatolian
province of EskiÅ~_ehir gathered Saturday to commemorate Dink and
set white pigeons free. The group gathered in Porsuk Avenue. "Every
death is early, but yours is much earlier for us," said Zeynep Ekici,
the spokesperson of the EskiÅ~_ehir Peace Assembly on behalf of the
group. The nongovernmental organization EskiÅ~_ehir has been in the
media in recent weeks for a banner placed at its gate that read,
"Armenians and Jews cannot enter, but dogs can." Dink, before his
death, wrote in a column that he felt as worried as a pigeon, but
despite his worries, he knew that people of Turkey did not touch
pigeons. Dink was shot to death days after the column was published,
on Jan. 19, 2007.

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