Whittier Daily News, CA
Pasadena Star-News, CA
Jan 26 2007
Turkey reminded of genocide issue
HRANT Dink paid the ultimate price for speaking the truth. Last
Friday, the newspaper editor was shot to death outside his office in
Istanbul, Turkey.
The 17-year-old Turk who is under arrest for the murder told police,
in his initial interrogation, that he had read some of Dink’s
writings on the Internet, and that he was angered by them: "These
things bothered me. I decided to kill him. … I would do it again
today. I am not sorry."
Dink’s crime: The Armenian journalist wrote about the genocide waged
against Armenians by the Turkish government 80 years ago. Around 1.5
million men, women and children perished in that carnage, some from
malnutrition, others from the brutal conditions of forced marches.
Many were simply shot or hanged.
And the present-day Turkish government continues to deny that it
happened.
The U.S. government for decades has abetted that lie by refusing to
recognize that genocide took place. Both are wrong, and both should
change their policies accordingly.
Dink was no stranger to repression. He was convicted in 2005 of
insulting Turkishness – a crime in Turkey – for speaking publicly
about the genocide. Family and friends said he had been receiving
threats ever since his trial.
Turkish intransigence over the matter of calling the genocide what it
was continues to puzzle. The current government is not the one that
organized and implemented the killings. To be sure, the episode is a
serious blight on Turkey’s past. But consider the example of Germany,
where far greater crimes – in sheer number of victims – were
committed against Jews and others during the Holocaust.
The Germans have worked assiduously, as individuals and through their
government, to make amends for those crimes. They acknowledged them,
and have paid huge sums of money to the survivors. In addition, they
have memorialized the Holocaust, helping to ensure that its lessons
are not forgotten.
Turkey wishes to join the European Union, but faces enormous
opposition from powerful members of that group, especially France,
over its refusal to come to terms with its own history. Yet the
denial persists.
But perhaps not forever. Though still small in number, some Turks are
calling openly for acknowledgment and the beginning of redemption.
And when police took Ogun Samast, the suspected killer, to the scene
of the murder, a small crowd of onlookers shouted at the suspect,
"We’re all Hrants. We’re all Armenians!" according to the Anatolia
news agency.
Let’s hope that attitude spreads.
The Fresno Bee