FAMILY MEMBERS OF POLITICAL MURDERS’ VICTIMS SIGN STATEMENT IN SUPPORT OF DINK FAMILY

PanARMENIAN.Net
09.02.2010 18:51 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The "deep family" of Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink, who was fatally shot by an ultranationalist teenager
outside the Agos weekly in 2007, was present yesterday during the
12th hearing of the Dink trial.

"We are the ‘deep’ family of Hrant Dink," said Filiz Ali, daughter
of the great Turkish poet Sebahattin Ali, who was murdered in 1948
while trying to flee the country after serving time in prison for
insulting Ataturk. "Hrant’s friends gave us permission today. We will
speak instead of them," she continued.

Family members of other victims of political murders have signed
a statement in support of the Dink family, including relatives of
journalists Ugur Mumcu, Cetin Emec, Metin Göktepe and Abdi İpekci;
prosecutor Dogan Oz; Kurdish writers Umit Kaftancıoglu, Turan Dursun,
Onat Kutlar and Musa Anter; Confederation of Revolutionary Workers’
Unions (DÄ°SK) President Kemal Turkler; folk singer Hasret Gultekin;
poets Behcet Aysan, Nesimi Cimen and Metin Altıok; terror victims
Yasemin Cebenoyan and Sevinc Ozguner; publisher Ä°lhan Erdost;
academic Cavit Orhan Tutengil; and Adana Police Chief Cevat Yurdakul.

"We came to share and bear witness to the injustice we have been
enduring for many years. We came to remind people how organized
political murders are covered up, which we have held in our memory
since the murder of Sabahattin Ali," Filiz Ali said. By calling
themselves the "deep family," the Dink family’s supporters are
referencing the "deep state," which is believed to have played a role
in Dink’s murder.

The relatives of the victims demanded that no secrets should remain,
saying: "We came here to say that we are following you. We do not
believe that any secret can be so important as to carry the burden of
this dishonor, this humiliation. We came here to express our hope
that this court, which will start the hearing in a few minutes,
is powerful enough to bring out all the secrets."

Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Ä°stanbul deputy Ufuk Uras, Ä°pekci’s
daughter Nukhet Ä°pekci, Oz’s wife Sezen Oz and writer Adalet Agaoglu
were also present to support the Dink family in addition to observers
from bar associations from Brussels and Paris.

In addition, the Demokratik Yargı Dernegi (Democratic Judiciary
Union), which was found as an alternative to the highly politicized
Judges and Prosecutors Association (YARSAV), released a press
statement, calling for light to be shed on political murders like
Dink’s and others. They stated that political murders stand before
the democratic development of Turkey.

Security was tight near the courthouse in BeÅ~_iktaÅ~_ because of the
high number of people who came out in support of the Dink family. A
group of people who gathered at the BeÅ~_iktaÅ~_ pier protested against
all political murders with slogans such as, "For Hrant, For Justice"
and "Murderer State Will Be Held Accountable."

Dink’s wife, Rakel, told reporters outside the courthouse that
there will be no salvation unless there is "admission, repentance
and apology."

Hrant Dink (September 15, 1954 – January 19, 2007) was a
Turkish-Armenian journalist and columnist and editor-in-chief
of Agos 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.