The UCLA Daily Bruin, CA
Feb 23 2007
Tribute to honor life of Armenian journalist
Mai Hong, Bruin contributor (Contact)
Published: Friday, February 23, 2007
A month after his death, journalist Hrant Dink will be commemorated
Sunday afternoon in Dodd Hall in a program called `Hrant Dink: His
Legacy and His Challenge – A Tribute.’
Dink, founder and editor in chief of Agos, a Turkish-Armenian
newspaper published in Turkey, was murdered by teenager Ogun Samsast
in front of the Agos office on Jan. 19. Samsast’s motives remain
unclear.
Richard Hovannisian, a history professor and chairman of modern
Armenian history, said the event is intended to celebrate Dink’s
life.
`He was an extraordinary individual, a courageous and outspoken
intellectual,’ Hovannisian said.
Speakers from Turkey and the U.S. plan to discuss Dink’s work as a
journalist, as well as the challenges Dink experienced as an Armenian
in Turkey.
Dink received threats after being convicted under Article 301 of the
Turkish Penal Code for discussing the Armenian Genocide in several
speeches.
Article 301 states that people will be prosecuted for publicly
denigrating the Turkish government, according to the Organization for
Security and Co-operation in Europe. It has led to the prosecution of
journalists and authors who write about the Armenian Genocide,
including Dink, Hovannisian said.
The article has been the subject of public debate since its
establishment in 2005.
The Armenian Genocide is a subject of controversy because the Turkish
government denies the deaths constitute genocide, instead maintaining
they were the result of World War I.
Hovannisian said media coverage of Dink’s trials portrayed Dink in a
negative light, as a man who criticized the Turkish people, causing
the public to distrust him.
`He received a lot of hate mail. He had ultra-nationalistic
obscenities being shouted at him,’ said Hovannisian, who last saw
Dink in November 2006 in Los Angeles where Dink spoke about the
challenges of Turkish-Armenian relations.
But Dink was an outspoken Armenian voice and recognized that his life
was in danger, Hovannisian said.
`He realized he was putting his own life on the line, … but he
didn’t want to live anywhere else. He was a part of Turkish culture
along with his Armenian culture,’ said Hovannisian, who knew Dink for
several years.
Zeynep Turkyilmaz, a doctoral student in history, is also scheduled
to give a speech reflecting on Dink’s life.
Turkyilmaz is a member of Initiative of Turkish Students to
Commemorate `Our Hrant,’ an informal group of students from Turkey.
Turkyilmaz also knew Dink from her days as a university student in
Turkey.
`He has shaped so many different lives in so many different ways.
Even if he had not touched my life personally, I think it is
important to tell people what he believed in and to acknowledge and
recognize what he did,’ Turkyilmaz said.
David Myers, director of the UCLA Center for Jewish Studies, is also
expected to speak at the event, though he did not know Dink
personally.
`I think Dink was a heroic figure who knew to balance the impulses of
particularism and universalism very well.
`That is, he was committed to preserving his particular identity as
an Armenian in Turkey on one hand, and to upholding the rule of law
and human rights on a global scale on the other,’ Myers said.
Hovannisian said the event will also be a place to share Dink’s
ideals.
`Everywhere he was a humanitarian and humane person. His loss has
created a grieving among liberal Turkish intellectuals and among
Armenians all around the world,’ Hovannisian said.
`And at this event they will be coming together.’
07/feb/23/tribute_honor_life_armenian_journalist/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
