VARDAN OSKANYAN: HRANT DINK’S MURDER WAS AN ASSAULT ON DEMOCRATIC STATE BUILDING – OF THE TURKISH STATE
2008-01-17 13:35:00
ArmInfo. Hrant Dink’s murder was an assault on democratic state
building – of the Turkish state, RA Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan’s
message reads on the occasion of the anniversary of death of Editor
of the "Agos" Armenian-Turkish newspaper Hrant Dink, murdered on
January 19, 2007.
I can confess that I have lived through two deep and unforgettable
shocks during my years in office; once in 1999 when the stability
of Armenia was threatened by gunmen and the second time last year,
when I received the call that Hrant Dink had been assassinated. Both
were attacks not on men, but on ideas and values. Hrant’s murder was
an assault on democratic state building — of the Turkish state. His
murderers took aim at his vision of a Turkey that allowed free speech,
that tolerated open discourse and that embraced its minority citizens,
like himself.
We miss Hrant. He would come to Armenia a couple of times a year. In
September 2006, when he spoke at the third Armenian Diaspora
Conference, his message was that as members of the European family,
Turkey and Armenia would have normal relations, because even the
unwilling in Turkey would be induced to find a way to dialogue. That
was music to our ears, echoing as it did our own wishes.
He also addressed the "International Conference on the 90th Anniversary
of the Armenian Genocide" we held in Yerevan in April 2005. Everyone
respected his ardent, reasoned plea for dialogue, for distinguishing
between today’s Turkish Republic and the perpetrators of atrocities
nearly 100 years ago. He recounted passionately how he had explained
to Turkish authorities that Armenians are looking for their roots —
the same roots which the Ottoman Empire slashed when it attempted
to completely eradicate a people and tear it away from its home,
its culture and its traditions. Each time he came to Yerevan, we
would find a few minutes to talk. It was important that I hear from
him about the mood in Turkey.
Hrant was the right person to ask because he was not just an Armenian
living in Turkey, he was proud of both his identities — Turkish
and Armenian — and was insulted and angered that while trying to
reconcile them he was accused of "insulting Turkishness." When he
was first charged under Article 301 for "insulting Turkishness," I
asked whether it would help if I wrote a letter or spoke publicly. He
responded confidently. "My thanks and gratitude, but right now, I’m
all I need. So help me God, I’m going to take my struggle and my rights
all the way to the end." Later, he wondered how "on the one hand, they
call for dialogue with Armenia and Armenians and on the other want
to condemn or neutralize their own citizens who work for dialogue."
Hrant Dink was candid and courageous, but not naive. Still, he could
not have predicted this kind of "neutralization." His honest and brave
voice was silenced. Worse, some saw in this assassination a clear
message that the danger they face lies deeper than a mere judicial
conviction. This message is just one of the dividends that this
killing offered those who contributed to the fanatical nationalist
environment which colors Turkish politics in and out of Turkey.
The brutality, the impunity, the violence of Hrant’s murder serves
several political ends. First, it makes Turkey less interesting
for Europe, which is exactly what some in the Turkish establishment
want. Second, it scares away Armenians and other minorities in Turkey
from pursuing their civil and human rights. Third, it scares those
bold Turks who are beginning to explore these complicated, sensitive
subjects in earnest. In Armenia, we have insisted for more than a
decade, that although we are the victims of historical injustice and
although we are on the other side of a border that Turkey has kept
closed, we are prepared at any time for dialogue with our neighbor
on any subject, so long as there are normal relations between us,
so long as this last closed border in Europe is opened, so long as
someone on the other side wants to talk. We are ready.
A year ago, we were moved by the outpouring of fundamental, human
grief from all levels of Turkish society, especially from those who
have been scared by the demonstration of such violence on the part
of a young person, and saw it for what it is — the continuation of
hatred and enmity into the next generation. Hrant Dink’s family, his
colleagues at and around Agos and his friends in Armenia and in Turkey
will find some comfort knowing that today and tomorrow Hrant will be
remembered – by Armenians, who share his vision of understanding and
harmony among peoples, and by Turks, who share his dream of living
in peace with neighbors and with history.