An ominous slaying of a Turkish journalist
Allentown Morning Call, PA
Jan 24 2007
Last year was the worst on record for news media casualties, according
to the International News Safety Institute: 167 journalists and 30
other news-gathering personnel died while trying to do their jobs
in 37 countries. The most recent, prominent example of a journalist
deliberately attacked for exercising freedom of the press occurred on
Friday in Istanbul, when Hrant Dink was shot dead outside the office
of his bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly newspaper, Agos.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the shooting:
"A bullet was fired at freedom of thought and democratic life in
Turkey." Several thousand people marched from Mr. Dink’s newspaper
office to Taksim Square on Friday to protest. By Sunday, Turkish
news agencies reported the arrest of a teenage Turkish gunman who
reportedly gave prosecutors an extensive confession. However, the
teen might have been just a part of a conspiracy; at least 10 other
suspects were arrested in connection with the killing.
Lehigh Valley Local Links
Mobile News | Subscribe Online | Order Reprints There are several
complicated layers to this story, in addition to the loss of a
journalist with the courage to speak his mind on controversial
topics. Turkey has long refused to use the term "genocide" to describe
the deaths of Armenians beginning in 1915. Mr. Dink counted himself
among a growing number of Turks who want the government to admit that
leaders of the Ottoman Empire had directed the slaughter of Armenians,
and who want Turkey to become a full democracy.
The death of Mr. Dink might mobilize his supporters, who seek the
repeal of Article 301 of the Turkish penal code. Article 301 places
restrictions on a free press. Mr. Dink was convicted in 2005 of
insulting the Turkish identity in some of his articles and he received
a six-month suspended prison sentence.
Turkey must agree to a series of democratic reforms if it is to be
allowed to join the European Union. European resistance to Turkish
membership is growing, and the death of Mr. Dink will only fuel that
fire. Ironically, Mr. Dink viewed entry into the European Union as
the best way to strengthen democracy in Turkey.