PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Contact: V.Rev.Fr.Krikor Chiftjian, Communications Officer
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:
PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon
Armenian version: nian.htm
MRS. RACHEL DINK THE WIDOW OF THE ASSASSINATED ARMENIAN JOURNALIST IN
ISTANBUL
VISITS HIS HOLINESS ARAM I
On Thursday 19 February 2009, Mrs. Rachel Dink visited His Holiness Aram I
at the Spiritual Centre of the Armenian Orthodox Church in Antelias
(Lebanon). Also Present at the meeting was Rev. Meguerditch Karaguezian, the
President of the Armenian Evangelical Churches, and Rev. Sebouh Terzian.
The widow of Hrant Dink informed His Holiness of the circumstances of the
assassination of her husband on 19 January 2007 in Istanbul, and the
procedures adopted by the criminal court in Turkey to judge the 17-year-old
assassin Orgün Samast, the Turk nationalist and his accomplices. She said
that her husband was repeatedly threatened and prosecuted for his
non-violent opinions. Hrant Dink the Editor of the newspaper "Agos" was one
of the most prominent voices in Turkey’s reduced Armenian community. As
Amnesty International wrote on 19 January 2009, "still no justice for
murdered journalist Hrant Kink. Hrant Dink was assassinated for his
willingness to debate openly and critically issues of Armenian identity and
the official versions of history in Turkey related to Armenian massacres of
1915."
At the end of the audience, His Holiness Aram I declared: The Holy See of
Cilicia located in Antelias (Lebanon), is itself a reminder of the Armenian
Genocide, as the See was uprooted from its homeland, which is part of Turkey
today. Therefore, we respect and support the non-violent advocacy work for
justice started by Hrant Dink. The Armenian Genocide is a historical fact.
We demand from modern Turkey to take responsibility for the acts of genocide
planned and executed by their forefathers."
At the end of the audience, Mrs. Dink and the other guests offered their
prayers at the Memorial dedicated to the one and a half million victims of
the genocide within the compound of the Monastery.
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View the photo here:
tos/Photos359.htm
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The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia is one of the two Catholicosates of
the Armenian Orthodox Church. For detailed information about the history and
the mission of the Cilician Catholicosate, you may refer to the web page of
the Catholicosate, The Cilician
Catholicosate, the administrative center of the church is located in
Antelias, Lebanon.