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DINK MURDER AND 100-YEAR-OLD GANG
ORHAN KEMAL CENGÄ°Z
Today's Zaman
Jan 20 2012
Turkey
Tens of thousands of people once again appeared in front of the Agos
building where Hrant Dink was murdered five years ago. This Jan. 19
was the fifth anniversary of Dink's murder. But two days ago, the
Ä°stanbul High Criminal Court issued the infamous verdict that you
are already familiar with.
This shameful ruling argued that Dink's murder was not an organized
crime. Karin KarakaÅ~_lı, one of Hrant's friends who spoke to the
croweds gathered in front of the Agos paper, spoke to the audience
and reached out to their emotions and wisdom. I would like to take
some excerpts from her speech:
"And they did not kill him one time. First, they killed him with the
General Staff's declaration following the Sabiha Gökcen article. They
killed him when he was threatened by members of the National
Intelligence Organization [MÄ°T] at the Ä°stanbul Governor's Office.
They killed Hrant Dink by declaring him an enemy of Turks based on
quotations from his peaceful articles."
"It was known while Hrant Dink was still alive that many Ergenekon
suspects, including Veli Kucuk and Kemal Kerincsiz, were working on
lynching campaigns and a judicial process. And then the Cage Action
Plan was revealed. However, no connection was established between
this case and Ergenekon."
"They surrounded us by lies; this has been the case for five
consecutive years. And in the end they picked two as culprits. They
told us that we have to be satisfied with this outcome."
"Given that there was no organized armed group, we cannot talk about
its masterminds and members. They made this decision by looking
directly in our eyes. We saw their recklessness and the fear behind
this decision. We said the state is naked; the state is naked."
"Can I say that this is my country and this is my state? There is
only one way I can say this: End this disgrace."
"We all lost Hrant Dink; but you can appreciate that his absence is
a bigger loss for us, Armenians."
"We came to this point through the constant denial of history."
"This decision has brought us back to the day of the murder, Jan. 19,
2007. The state has apparently not been able to figure out how to
deal with the life and death of one of its Armenian citizens. This
means that we will have to teach it how to do so."
"They told us the case is closed. Is it really? Hrant Dink is not a
file, so it is not closeable. He is a bleeding wound."
"We promise that we will not live a decent life so long as this state
of injustice remains."
I think KarakaÅ~_lı's remarks translated the emotions of the people
who gathered to remember Hrant and those who want justice in Turkey.
Everyone knows the Dink murder was a planned and organized attempt. I
have written many columns on this murder. I do not want to repeat
what I previously said.
In her speech, KarakaÅ~_lı points to the network as being behind
the murder. Dink was murdered by a deep state gang involving right
and left-wing Turkish nationalists called Ergenekon. But the road to
his death was laid down very easily, and no significant progress has
been made over the last five years with respect to the case despite
all the concrete evidence; as noted by KarakaÅ~_lı, this can only
happen in a nation and society that has failed to confront its past.
The deep state killed Dink; but the recruitment of murderers would not
have been so easy had there been no hatred of Armenians or racism in
Turkey. Had there been no institutionalized racism within the state
apparatus in Turkey, the Dink murder would not have been committed
by organized efforts within the state.
I hope the growing outrage at the court's ruling and the rage as
evidenced by the popular anger we've seen leads to the resumption of
the trial following the verdict of the Ä°stanbul High Criminal Court.
Otherwise, I think justice will not be done and that the relative
peace in Turkey will be negatively affected. The deep state in Turkey
has not been able to commit murders since the start of the Ergenekon
investigations. Their last murderous action was the Malatya massacre
of April 2007, when they barbarously killed three Christians.
I am afraid this decision in the Dink case is a blank check to
potential executioners and the deep structures that would use them.
The message the Dink judgment delivers to the deep state says they can
commit additional crimes and murders without being held responsible
for their actions; but this is extremely dangerous. Unless the Dink
decision is overturned by an appellate court and the trial continues,
the 100-year-old murder network will continue with what it has been
doing. This case should resume -- for Hrant, for justice and for a
livable Turkey.
ORHAN KEMAL CENGÄ°Z
Today's Zaman
Jan 20 2012
Turkey
Tens of thousands of people once again appeared in front of the Agos
building where Hrant Dink was murdered five years ago. This Jan. 19
was the fifth anniversary of Dink's murder. But two days ago, the
Ä°stanbul High Criminal Court issued the infamous verdict that you
are already familiar with.
This shameful ruling argued that Dink's murder was not an organized
crime. Karin KarakaÅ~_lı, one of Hrant's friends who spoke to the
croweds gathered in front of the Agos paper, spoke to the audience
and reached out to their emotions and wisdom. I would like to take
some excerpts from her speech:
"And they did not kill him one time. First, they killed him with the
General Staff's declaration following the Sabiha Gökcen article. They
killed him when he was threatened by members of the National
Intelligence Organization [MÄ°T] at the Ä°stanbul Governor's Office.
They killed Hrant Dink by declaring him an enemy of Turks based on
quotations from his peaceful articles."
"It was known while Hrant Dink was still alive that many Ergenekon
suspects, including Veli Kucuk and Kemal Kerincsiz, were working on
lynching campaigns and a judicial process. And then the Cage Action
Plan was revealed. However, no connection was established between
this case and Ergenekon."
"They surrounded us by lies; this has been the case for five
consecutive years. And in the end they picked two as culprits. They
told us that we have to be satisfied with this outcome."
"Given that there was no organized armed group, we cannot talk about
its masterminds and members. They made this decision by looking
directly in our eyes. We saw their recklessness and the fear behind
this decision. We said the state is naked; the state is naked."
"Can I say that this is my country and this is my state? There is
only one way I can say this: End this disgrace."
"We all lost Hrant Dink; but you can appreciate that his absence is
a bigger loss for us, Armenians."
"We came to this point through the constant denial of history."
"This decision has brought us back to the day of the murder, Jan. 19,
2007. The state has apparently not been able to figure out how to
deal with the life and death of one of its Armenian citizens. This
means that we will have to teach it how to do so."
"They told us the case is closed. Is it really? Hrant Dink is not a
file, so it is not closeable. He is a bleeding wound."
"We promise that we will not live a decent life so long as this state
of injustice remains."
I think KarakaÅ~_lı's remarks translated the emotions of the people
who gathered to remember Hrant and those who want justice in Turkey.
Everyone knows the Dink murder was a planned and organized attempt. I
have written many columns on this murder. I do not want to repeat
what I previously said.
In her speech, KarakaÅ~_lı points to the network as being behind
the murder. Dink was murdered by a deep state gang involving right
and left-wing Turkish nationalists called Ergenekon. But the road to
his death was laid down very easily, and no significant progress has
been made over the last five years with respect to the case despite
all the concrete evidence; as noted by KarakaÅ~_lı, this can only
happen in a nation and society that has failed to confront its past.
The deep state killed Dink; but the recruitment of murderers would not
have been so easy had there been no hatred of Armenians or racism in
Turkey. Had there been no institutionalized racism within the state
apparatus in Turkey, the Dink murder would not have been committed
by organized efforts within the state.
I hope the growing outrage at the court's ruling and the rage as
evidenced by the popular anger we've seen leads to the resumption of
the trial following the verdict of the Ä°stanbul High Criminal Court.
Otherwise, I think justice will not be done and that the relative
peace in Turkey will be negatively affected. The deep state in Turkey
has not been able to commit murders since the start of the Ergenekon
investigations. Their last murderous action was the Malatya massacre
of April 2007, when they barbarously killed three Christians.
I am afraid this decision in the Dink case is a blank check to
potential executioners and the deep structures that would use them.
The message the Dink judgment delivers to the deep state says they can
commit additional crimes and murders without being held responsible
for their actions; but this is extremely dangerous. Unless the Dink
decision is overturned by an appellate court and the trial continues,
the 100-year-old murder network will continue with what it has been
doing. This case should resume -- for Hrant, for justice and for a
livable Turkey.