ACNIS: HRANT DINK’S MISSION CONTINUES AND HIS SPIRIT LIVES ON

PanARMENIAN.Net
19.01.2010 21:08 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Armenian Center for National and International
Studies (ACNIS) issued a statement today commemorating the third
anniversary of the death of noted Turkish-Armenian intellectual
Hrant Dink.

The statement reads: "Hrant Dink’s brutal murder on this day three
years ago in Istanbul endowed his death with a special meaning. But
even more significantly, it was his life that endowed his death
with such a special meaning. Sometimes in history, some men attain a
higher meaning, in a sacrifice of the ultimate. Hrant Dink was just
such a man. He was brave, in so strongly and passionately advocating
Turkish-Armenian reconciliation, but also as an outspoken defender of
minority and human rights in Turkey. He was also innocent, in facing
the persecution and prosecution of the Turkish state, which had
specifically targeted him for the "crime" of "insulting Turkishness."

But Hrant Dink was much more than a symbol of change. He was an
inspiration to many and his mission was a motivation to even more.

Hrant Dink was also a loving father of three, Delal, Ararat and Sera;
a devoted husband of one special woman, Rakel; a friend to many,
and an inspiration to all.

The man may be gone, but his mission continues and his spirit
lives on."

Hrant Dink (September 15, 1954 – January 19, 2007) was a
Turkish-Armenian journalist and columnist and editor-in-chief
of Akos bilingual newspaper. Dink was best known for advocating
Turkish-Armenian reconciliation and human and minority rights in
Turkey. Charged under the notorious article 301 of the Turkish
Criminal Code, Dink stood a trial for insulting Turkishness. After
numerous death threats, Hrant Dink was assassinated in Istanbul in
January 2007, by Ogun Samast, a 17-year old Turkish nationalist.