Gulf News, United Arab Emirates
Jan 20 2007
Turkish-Armenian journalist shot dead near office
AP
Istanbul: Journalist Hrant Dink, one of the most prominent voices of
Turkey’s shrinking Armenian community, was killed by a gunman
yesterday at the entrance to his newspaper’s offices, police said.
Dink, a 53-year-old Turkish citizen of Armenian descent, had gone on
trial numerous times for speaking out about the mass killings of
Armenians by Turks at the beginning of the 20th century. He had
received threats from nationalists, who viewed him as a traitor.
Dink was a public figure in Turkey and the editor of the bilingual
Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a press conference after the
killing, vowed to catch those responsible and called the slaying an
attack on Turkey’s unity.
Erdogan said he had appointed top officials from the Justice Ministry
to investigate the killing, and that two suspects had been arrested
in Istanbul.
In an interview with the Associated Press in October 2005, Dink cried
as he talked about some of his fellow countrymen’s hatred for him,
saying he could not stay in a country where he was unwanted.
"I don’t think I could live with an identity of having insulted [the
Turks] in this country … if I am unable to come up with a positive
result, it will be honourable for me to leave this country," Dink had
said as he contemplated his trial.
"Hrant’s body is lying on the ground as if those bullets were fired
at Turkey," Dink’s friend Can Dundar told private NTV television. NTV
said four empty shell casings were found on the ground and that he
was killed by two bullets to the head.
Fehmi Koru, a columnist at the Yeni Safak newspaper, said the killing
was aimed at destabilising Turkey.
A colleague at Dink’s newspaper, Aydin Engin, said Dink had
attributed the threats to elements in the "deep state", a Turkish
term used for alleged shadowy, fiercely nationalist and powerful
elements embedded in the government and security establishment.