Minister Oskanian sends message of sorrow to Hrant Dink’s family
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[06:40 pm] 23 January, 2007
Hrant Dink, noted editor who was shot before his office on Friday,
was laid to rest in Istanbul today.
Armenia was represented at the funeral by Deputy Foreign Minister
Arman Kirakossian, and by Armenia’s Permanent Representative to the
Black Sea Economic Cooperation, in Istanbul, Karen Mirzoyan.
Minister Oskanian, who was in Moscow for the regular meeting of the
foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, on the Nagorno Karabakh
conflict, sent a personal condolence letter to Hrant Dink’s widow
Raqel and the family.
"It is with deep sorrow that I write this letter," he said. "We
all join you in mourning this cruel, unnecessary, unimaginable,
immeasurable loss. Hrant was more than the editor of a newspaper. He
embodied the dreams of an entire nation. And he dreamt big. He believed
in the goodness of mankind and its ability to bring change. He fought
vigorously for individual freedom and liberty as instruments for
change and progress.
Minister Oskanian’s letter continued. "And because he believed, he
spoke and wrote with passion, thus converting many, near and far,
into believers. Today, it is these believers who will carry forward
his dream to be able to freely speak the truth, remember a shared,
if painful, history, to recount the horrors of genocide in order
to reject and condemn it once and for all, and to make new history
together. Armenians and Turks together can ensure Hrant’s desire
for peace across borders, dialogue among peoples and understanding
between individuals."
The Minister stressed that, "Indeed, we have a responsibility
to do this so that his death takes on meaning, just as his life
was so meaningful and significant for so many. We have a further
responsibility to make sure that the life we live together, in the
same region, is a life of peace and understanding."
The Minister’s letter and a floral wreath were delivered to the family
immediately preceding the funeral.
>>From Moscow, the Minister commented, "We were conducting dialogue to
reach peace with Azerbaijan in Moscow, while an advocate of dialogue
and peace, shot dead, was being laid to rest in Turkey. I couldn’t
help but think that violence, war, extremism are not the answers to
any of the region’s problems. I wonder if we will look back to this day
and see Hrant’s death as the catalyst for a new hope for the region."
>>From Moscow, the Minister commented, "I couldn’t help but think
that a man of peace was being nt that as this man of peace was being
laid to rest, we were negotiating a peace for Nagorno Karabakh, that,
if it is to be meaningful, will also require Turkey’s positive and
active engagement.
Violence and war is not the answer to the problems in the region.
Perhaps we will look back to this day and see Hrant’s death as the
catalyst for a new hope for the region.