NEVER FORGET HRANT!

Hurriyet
Jan 19 2010
Turkey

I will never forget Jan. 19, 2007. It was a quiet Friday afternoon,
I was working at home in Brussels. Then, almost at the same time,
my Turkish assistant Ali and my wife Nevin called and told me Hrant
Dink, our friend, had been killed. At first, I could not believe
it. I had to cry but at the same time calls started coming in from
journalists, asking for a reaction. A few hours later a car picked
up Nevin and me and brought us to a TV studio in the Netherlands for
a live program on Hrant’s murder. I managed to stop the tears during
the interview. On the way back we sat silently in the back of the car,
hours passing by in darkness.

I will never forget Jan. 23, 2007. Although we were early, we hardly
managed to reach the Agos newspaper building where Hrant had been shot
and where the funeral procession would start. An incredible number
of people filled the roads, carrying the famous small black-and-white
posters, claiming "We are all Hrant Dink" and "We are all Armenians."

The air was filled with a strange mix of grief and solidarity. What
struck me most were the reactions of ordinary Istanbul residents
along the road. Silently standing by and showing respect.

Three years have gone by since. The court case against Hrant’s
murderers has started but is going nowhere. A young ultranationalist
guy and his immediate accomplices from Trabzon are on trial but
everybody knows that the masterminds in the background have still not
been identified. Some of the suspected plotters have been arrested and
are now being tried in connection with the Ergenekon case. There is
strong evidence that the police and the gendarmerie in Trabzon were
involved, in one way or the other, because they knew about the plans
to kill Hrant but did not act. Family, friends and lawyers of Hrant
are getting desperate because several requests to broaden the scope
of the investigations have been turned down. In Turkey and abroad
the fear is growing that this case will end as so many other similar
ones in the past did. The real culprits walk free because the Turkish
state is not willing or not able to touch them.

At the opening ceremony of Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture,
the city was repeatedly portrayed as a multi-cultural entity,
respecting all beliefs and creeds. Jewish and Armenian songs were
performed and in an impressive speech the prime minister stressed
the need for tolerance and understanding. I am sure Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan meant what he said and I know he took a personal
interest in Hrant’s case. But his words left a bitter taste, realizing
that, apparently, the most powerful man in the country is not able or
willing to push for a breakthrough in the case against the killers
of a man who died because he was an outspoken representative of one
of those cherished minorities.

If the men who planned Hrant’s murder are not brought before court,
there will always remain an ugly, dirty spot on Turkey’s and Istanbul’s
reputation. As I explained last week, the Ergenekon case has become
so complicated that many have lost track. But Hrant’s case has a
high symbolic value and is easy to follow, also abroad. Many people
knew him or admired his courage from a distance. They know there are
limits to what a government can do pending a court case. But they
also expect leaders, who claim to defend the rule of law and the
rights of minorities, to go the extra mile and remove all obstacles
that stand in the way of justice.

Hrant deserves that. Turkey deserves that.