AGOS EDITOR SEROPYAN: ERGENEKON CASE WAS HRANT’S DREAM
Today’s Zaman
8-8-agos-editor-seropyan-ergenekon-case-was-hrants -dream.html
Jan 18 2010
Turkey
If Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was fatally shot in
front of the headquarters of the bilingual Armenian weekly Agos in
2007, were alive today, he would have been overjoyed that the Ergenekon
gang is being investigated, Agos Editor Sarkis Seropyan has said.
"If Hrant were alive and saw the Ergenekon case, he would have been
over the moon," he told Today’s Zaman for Monday Talk. "He would have
supported the Ergenekon case much more than what we are able to do
at Agos. He would not have been satisfied just by presenting the news
related to Ergenekon."
Seropyan was referring to the investigation into Ergenekon, a
neo-nationalist gang believed to be the extension of a clandestine
network of groups with members in the armed forces and accused of
being behind a number of unsolved murders of journalists, academics,
public-opinion leaders and writers.
"It was his dream that those people’s masks would drop," Seropyan
said, referring to alleged members of Ergenekon investigated by the
Ä°stanbul Public Prosecutor’s Office.
An investigation in the wake of the Dink assassination revealed that
a group of ultranationalists was behind the murder. Strong evidence
suggested that some members of the group had ties with the police
department in northern Trabzon, the hometown of the plotters.
Some gendarmes later confirmed that they had been tipped off about
the plot to kill Dink before the murder was committed.
The Dink family lawyers have frequently leveled allegations that police
have attempted to obscure evidence. Fethiye Cetin, who represents
the Dink family in the trial, had told Monday Talk in 2008 that some
people who have been arrested as a result of the Ergenekon operation
were very active in the process leading to Dink’s murder.
However, although three years have passed since Dink was killed,
the investigation into this vicious murder has yielded no conclusion.
Two Agos editors, Seropyan and Pakrat Estukyan, answered our questions
about Agos after Hrant Dink and more.
Following the murder of Hrant Dink, you continued to publish Agos
without any interruptions. How did that happen?
Seropyan: A lot of people flooded our offices right after the news.
People — some of them we knew and some we did not know or like —
came to help us to put out the paper. With their support, we were
able to publish a special issue. Indeed, they did it. Long-time
Agos page designer Umit Kıvanc, who is no longer with us, did the
unforgettable front page. That issue sold about 50,000 copies even
though our circulation did not normally exceed 5,000.
What is your circulation now?
Seropyan: With that special issue, we had an upsurge in our
circulation, and since then it has gradually decreased and come to
a balance of around 8,000-10,000 copies.
"Friends of Hrant" has just released a press statement noting that
it’s been three years since his murder and those who masterminded it
are still free. What do you think?
Seropyan: In honor killings, adults use minors to avoid harsher
punishments, and this seems like what adults did in planning Hrant’s
murder. A report prepared by the Dink family lawyers indicates the
facts and the process in which the case was not resolved despite
those facts very well. There are only a couple of boys that have been
brought before the court as assassins. Some of the people whose breath
I sometimes felt on my neck during the hearings are now being tried
in connection with Ergenekon. They were so-called lawyers, jurists,
generals, etc., but they are now responsible to the court. Sooner or
later, Hrant’s case is going to be linked with the Ergenekon case even
though we don’t know how far Ergenekon will be pursued. But if it is
pursued, it will be good for the country. If Hrant were alive and saw
the Ergenekon case, he would be over the moon. He would jump for joy.
He would have supported the Ergenekon case much more than what we are
able to do at Agos He would not have been satisfied just by presenting
the news related to Ergenekon. This case against Ergenekon was his
dream. It was his dream that those people’s masks would drop.
What do you think Dink would have done at Agos in relation to the
Ergenekon case? Can you imagine it?
Seropyan: He was so different. He would have done something that
we cannot even think about. Fatih Sultan Mehmet ["the Conqueror"]
II had his warships transported overland. Hrant would have his ships
moved overland as well. We can’t even dream about it.
What strikes you the most in the report prepared by the Dink family
lawyers?
Seropyan: The report repeats the sentence "Hrant Dink was killed
on Jan. 19, 2007," every few paragraphs. It reminds us of that fact
frequently because we need to remember it frequently. We should never
forget this fact, and we will not. If we forget this, the Ergenekon
case will lose its importance. Turkey’s democratization process has
been directly linked with Hrant’s murder. Nobody should forget that
Hrant was killed on Jan. 19, 2007. Anybody who has real love for
her or his country should remember this. We love this country. We
love Anatolia, where our grandparents lived. When I go to Anatolia,
I want to feel the land so much that I walk barefooted there. I don’t
even do that in my home in Ä°stanbul. I am 75 years old, and I have
many diseases, from hypertension to diabetes, but I get better when
I am in Anatolia. My blood pressure drops even though I eat salty
cheese and rich foods there.
Would Dink go to Anatolia as well?
Seropyan: He would sometimes, but he did not have much time to do so.
Before he was murdered, he took frequent trips abroad. He would be
called to speak at conferences. He received his passport only a few
years before his murder because he had been banned from exiting the
country due to his leftist political activities in his youth.
‘Official policies no longer convince people’ Do you think Dink’s
murder played a role in increasing empathy in Turkish society toward
Armenians?
Estukyan: Yes, it did. In the background of that empathy, there is
the fact that the state’s official policies were no longer convincing
for people. If the state had not adopted policies of denial, Dink’s
murder could have been just another killing of a journalist. But at
the moment that he was killed, 72 million in Turkey knew that he was
killed because he was an Armenian. Why him but not other Armenians?
Because he was telling the truth. The funeral ceremony clearly showed
people’s reactions.
Do you think those feelings of empathy still exist?
Estukyan: The initial euphoria died out after a while, but such events
can be turning points in people’s lives. I saw a reflection of this in
a column by Taraf writer Hilal Kaplan, who referred to Dink as "Hrant
Abi" [Brother Hrant]. She wrote that she was deeply affected by two
events in her life: One is that she went to the university she wanted
but was expelled because of her headscarf, and the second one is the
murder of Dink. She further explained why she refers to Dink as "Hrant
Abi," someone she did not even know before his death. She wrote that
she read all of Dink’s writings after his murder and felt close enough
to call him "Hrant Abi" and that she feels so sorry that she never met
him. By attending his funeral ceremony, she wrote, she felt like she
was doing a meaningful thing in her life. Therefore, we can say that
some people, especially intellectuals, have had similar experiences.
But back to your question, if we are talking about the general public,
I don’t think that that is the case. Some people who were at Dink’s
funeral three years ago now think that the investigation into generals
under the Ergenekon case is a scam by Islamists. There are paradoxes
in Turkish society.
Since Dink traveled abroad before his death and his ideas were being
closely observed, how was he perceived there?
Estukyan: With surprise, because he was an unconventional man. He
would say that Turks are very good people but the state policies were
fascist. For a typical Armenian who has never been to Turkey or never
had contact with a Turk, that was not acceptable because he or she
would think of Turks and the Turkish state as one. One positive that
came out after Hrant’s death is that Turks and Armenians in Germany
and France came together for memorial activities. Ever since Turkish
people moved to Germany as workers — and there were some Armenians
among them — Turkish and Armenian associations have avoided organized
social activities together. So it is significant that they do this
now. It is the success of Hrant’s words, which have been internalized
by some people.
Seropyan: Turkey has recently been talking about Mehmet Ali Agca’s
[who murdered Turkish journalist Abdi Ä°pekci and attempted to
assassinate Pope John Paul II] release. I noticed on television last
night that cameras showed Abdi Ä°pekci Street, and I asked myself
why the Ä°stanbul City Council chose not to rename Å~^afak Street,
where Hrant was murdered, "Hrant Dink Street." There have been comical
explanations for that by the city council, including that postmen
would have difficulties finding the street if its name were changed.
This happened despite the fact that the Ä°stanbul mayor comes to
our commemorative activities for Hrant. There were similar problems
when we had an initiative to construct a subtle memorial at the place
where Hrant was murdered. I refer to this because your question was in
regard to perceptions in Europe. In Marseilles, there are 16 streets
named after influential Armenian people. There is also a street in
Marseilles bearing Hrant’s name. In Paris, there is a school named
"Hrant Dink." In Armenia, there is a lecture room at a university named
"Hrant Dink."
Box: Both Agos editors say Hrant was unique Sarkis Seropyan, one of
the founding members of Agos, worked closely with Hrant Dink as an
editor until his murder on Jan. 19, 2007. Pakrat Estukyan has been an
editor at Agos for two years and writes for the Armenian pages. Both
editors say Dink was so different and unconventional that people
would have difficulty categorizing him in one group or another.
Box: ‘Turkish-Armenian relations will normalize’ ** When Agos was
found in 1996, one of its goals was to contribute to the normalization
of relations between Turkey and Armenia. Do you still have hopes for
that as there are steps in that regard?
** Seropyan: Those are delayed steps. I was more hopeful at the
beginning but not now. On both sides, the nationalist forces are
too powerful, and they are not even warm to the idea of having good
neighborly relations, let alone being friends. The opposition says
that everything the governments are doing in the process is wrong
and they are right!
** I would like to turn to Mr. Estukyan at this point and ask his
opinion on the same issue. Are you hopeful that relations will improve
with Armenia?
** Estukyan: I am hopeful, even though I agree with Sarkis that
politicians are not usually sincere and the opposition does not help
either. But I am hopeful because the world is changing in such a
way that there is a requirement for the resolution of old problems,
especially in the Caucasus. In the past, only military power and
military pacts have been important in this strategically important
part of the world. But now the issue is about the region’s energy
resources, transportation routes and how they can be safe and secure.
Armenia and Turkey are both in the region, and a conflict in that
area would not contribute to development and the transfer of energy
resources. The West apparently does not want to take that risk,
and both the United States and the European Union think the same way.
** Do you think the international community will also help eliminate
problems between Armenia and Azerbaijan?
** Estukyan: It has to. It has to do that in order to end the conflicts
in the region that are causing instability.
** Seropyan: I’d like to add that I don’t find politicians sincere,
but eventually the borders will be opened and people will interact
more. From the founding of the Turkish Republic until very recently,
Turkish authorities have declared that "Turkey is surrounded by
enemies." How has it been possible that Turkey has been on bad
terms with all of its neighbors? This is changing now in a positive
direction. Are all the neighbors of Turkey now good but Armenia? This
will change, too.