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HRANT DINK: A JOURNALIST WHO DIED FOR HIS DREAM
Deutsche Welle
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15670982,00.html
Jan 17 2012
Germany
Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Hrant Dink was
shot dead outside his office in 2007Five years ago Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink was shot dead in Istanbul. He had had the
courage to address a taboo subject in Turkey: the massacre of Armenians
in 1915.
"I come from Turkey. I am an Armenian. I belong entirely to Anatolia.
I've never even contemplated leaving my country to shape my future
in the West," Hrant Dink once wrote in one of his columns. He was
an Armenian journalist who dreamed of a democratic, free Turkey, in
which all religious and ethnic minorities would enjoy equal rights,
in which everyone would be allowed to express their opinions without
fear. This dream cost him his life.
Five years ago, on January 19, 2007, Hrant Dink was shot dead on a
street in Istanbul, directly in front of his newspaper's offices. On
Tuesday, the verdict in the trial against those who allegedly
masterminded his killing is set to be handed out.
Back then, the whole country was in shock after the murder. People
asked themselves with mixed feelings: "Who? Why? What for?" The attack
hadn't come completely out of the blue; in the months before his death,
Dink had received a number of death threats.
Reproached for offending Turkey
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
Thousands of mourners turned out at Dink's funeralIn 2005, Dink was
taken to court because of the views he'd expressed. He was accused
of offending Turkishness and was given a six-month suspended sentence.
More charges followed a year later, as well as new trials. In his
last article, which was published on the day he died, he wrote: "2007
will probably be a tough year for me. I feel like a dove, cautious,
timid and almost too awake, but I know that in this country they
don't hurt doves."
Demands to come to terms with history
His words were a thorn in the flesh for the right-wing nationalist
ruling powers - one of the main reasons why he was threatened. Dink
was an Armenian, who thought that people in Turkey should speak more
openly about what happened in 1915 and that Turkey should come to
terms with its own history, that's to say with the history of the
Armenian people in Anatolia.
He wrote: "I know what my forefathers came up against. Some like to
call it a massacre, others genocide, expulsion or catastrophe ... My
ancestors, in their Anatolian way, called it a 'butcher's shop.' But I
call it 'devastation.' And I know that if such things hadn't happened,
my country would be a much more livable, much more beautiful place."
'We are all Armenians - We are all Hrant Dink'
The Turkish public reacted with shock to Dink's death. Over 100,000
people attended his funeral. They were all carrying black signs
that read: "We are all Armenians. We are all Hrant Dink." The crowd
was silent.
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
Hrant Dink dreamed of a fairer TurkeyThe perpetrator was quickly
captured. He was a 17-year-old from Trabzon, a town in northern
Turkey. At his trial, he justified his crime as follows: "I read his
articles on the Internet, and what he said angered me, so I decided
to kill him." He claimed it was his decision, that he had planed it
all on his own, and that there were no accomplices. But later Ogun
Samast changed his statement and said that he had been incited by
Yasin Hayal, a right-wing extremist from Trabzon.
In 2010, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled
that the Turkish government was partly to blame for Dink's death for
failing to do enough to protect him.
Last year Ogun Samast was sentenced to 22 years in prison. But
because the judgment was handed down by a youth court, he will
probably only have to serve two-thirds of that sentence. Lately,
his alleged accomplices have also been on trial. Among them are his
two suspected backers: Yasin Hayal, who is said to have incited the
murder and Erhan Tuncel, a former police informant in Trabzon who is
said to have organized the attack.
Criticism of the trial
Rober Koptas, the current editor of Agos, is disappointed with the
trial. "We and the Turkish public are all aware that a number of
state officials both before and after the murder assumed important
roles in all this. There were security officials - both in the police
and the army - who were either active in helping to plan the murder,
or who knew about the plans but did nothing to hinder them."
In addition, Koptas says, "Bureaucrats and lawyers tried to cover up
the truth. Unfortunately all our requests to interview these people
were denied. That's why we don't believe in a fair verdict. It was
not a trial based on the search for justice."
Following Dink's death, a group was formed called "Hrant Dink's
friends." The members of this group were present at the trial, in
front of the court building, carrying banners that read "For Hrant
Dink. For justice."
They are convinced that the main people who were pulling the strings
remain at large. One of "Hrant Dink's friends" is journalist Aydin
Engin: "Even if it takes us 95 years, we will not give up the search
for the real killers," he stresses.
Rober Koptas believes that the Dink trial has led to an awakening of
democratic consciousness in Turkish society. However, the state's
mentality has not changed in any way. Koptas says that the same
conditions still exist in Turkey which led to Dink's murder five
years ago.
Author: Basak Ozay / ji Editor: Gabriel Borrud
Deutsche Welle
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15670982,00.html
Jan 17 2012
Germany
Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Hrant Dink was
shot dead outside his office in 2007Five years ago Turkish-Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink was shot dead in Istanbul. He had had the
courage to address a taboo subject in Turkey: the massacre of Armenians
in 1915.
"I come from Turkey. I am an Armenian. I belong entirely to Anatolia.
I've never even contemplated leaving my country to shape my future
in the West," Hrant Dink once wrote in one of his columns. He was
an Armenian journalist who dreamed of a democratic, free Turkey, in
which all religious and ethnic minorities would enjoy equal rights,
in which everyone would be allowed to express their opinions without
fear. This dream cost him his life.
Five years ago, on January 19, 2007, Hrant Dink was shot dead on a
street in Istanbul, directly in front of his newspaper's offices. On
Tuesday, the verdict in the trial against those who allegedly
masterminded his killing is set to be handed out.
Back then, the whole country was in shock after the murder. People
asked themselves with mixed feelings: "Who? Why? What for?" The attack
hadn't come completely out of the blue; in the months before his death,
Dink had received a number of death threats.
Reproached for offending Turkey
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
Thousands of mourners turned out at Dink's funeralIn 2005, Dink was
taken to court because of the views he'd expressed. He was accused
of offending Turkishness and was given a six-month suspended sentence.
More charges followed a year later, as well as new trials. In his
last article, which was published on the day he died, he wrote: "2007
will probably be a tough year for me. I feel like a dove, cautious,
timid and almost too awake, but I know that in this country they
don't hurt doves."
Demands to come to terms with history
His words were a thorn in the flesh for the right-wing nationalist
ruling powers - one of the main reasons why he was threatened. Dink
was an Armenian, who thought that people in Turkey should speak more
openly about what happened in 1915 and that Turkey should come to
terms with its own history, that's to say with the history of the
Armenian people in Anatolia.
He wrote: "I know what my forefathers came up against. Some like to
call it a massacre, others genocide, expulsion or catastrophe ... My
ancestors, in their Anatolian way, called it a 'butcher's shop.' But I
call it 'devastation.' And I know that if such things hadn't happened,
my country would be a much more livable, much more beautiful place."
'We are all Armenians - We are all Hrant Dink'
The Turkish public reacted with shock to Dink's death. Over 100,000
people attended his funeral. They were all carrying black signs
that read: "We are all Armenians. We are all Hrant Dink." The crowd
was silent.
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift:
Hrant Dink dreamed of a fairer TurkeyThe perpetrator was quickly
captured. He was a 17-year-old from Trabzon, a town in northern
Turkey. At his trial, he justified his crime as follows: "I read his
articles on the Internet, and what he said angered me, so I decided
to kill him." He claimed it was his decision, that he had planed it
all on his own, and that there were no accomplices. But later Ogun
Samast changed his statement and said that he had been incited by
Yasin Hayal, a right-wing extremist from Trabzon.
In 2010, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled
that the Turkish government was partly to blame for Dink's death for
failing to do enough to protect him.
Last year Ogun Samast was sentenced to 22 years in prison. But
because the judgment was handed down by a youth court, he will
probably only have to serve two-thirds of that sentence. Lately,
his alleged accomplices have also been on trial. Among them are his
two suspected backers: Yasin Hayal, who is said to have incited the
murder and Erhan Tuncel, a former police informant in Trabzon who is
said to have organized the attack.
Criticism of the trial
Rober Koptas, the current editor of Agos, is disappointed with the
trial. "We and the Turkish public are all aware that a number of
state officials both before and after the murder assumed important
roles in all this. There were security officials - both in the police
and the army - who were either active in helping to plan the murder,
or who knew about the plans but did nothing to hinder them."
In addition, Koptas says, "Bureaucrats and lawyers tried to cover up
the truth. Unfortunately all our requests to interview these people
were denied. That's why we don't believe in a fair verdict. It was
not a trial based on the search for justice."
Following Dink's death, a group was formed called "Hrant Dink's
friends." The members of this group were present at the trial, in
front of the court building, carrying banners that read "For Hrant
Dink. For justice."
They are convinced that the main people who were pulling the strings
remain at large. One of "Hrant Dink's friends" is journalist Aydin
Engin: "Even if it takes us 95 years, we will not give up the search
for the real killers," he stresses.
Rober Koptas believes that the Dink trial has led to an awakening of
democratic consciousness in Turkish society. However, the state's
mentality has not changed in any way. Koptas says that the same
conditions still exist in Turkey which led to Dink's murder five
years ago.
Author: Basak Ozay / ji Editor: Gabriel Borrud