Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Thousands In Turkey Mark Killing Of Armenian Journalist Amid Critici

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Thousands In Turkey Mark Killing Of Armenian Journalist Amid Critici

    THOUSANDS IN TURKEY MARK KILLING OF ARMENIAN JOURNALIST AMID CRITICISM OF COURT RULING

    Voice of America
    http://www.voanews.com/english/news/europe/Thousands-in-Turkey-Mark-Killing-of-Armenian-Journalist-Amid-Criticism-of-Court-Ruling-137687733.html
    Jan 20 2012

    In Istanbul, tens of thousands of supporters of slain ethnic-Armenian
    journalist Hrant Dink, marked the fifth anniversary of his murder,
    with many claiming the Turkish state was involved. But a court
    on Tuesday ruled there was no conspiracy, provoking national and
    international criticism.

    "We want justice for Hrant," shout supporters of the slain
    ethnic-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. Tens of thousands of
    people marched through the center of Istanbul to the offices of the
    Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos, which Dink once edited, to mark the
    fifth anniversary of his murder. Along with grief, the protesters
    are expressing anger.

    On Tuesday, a court convicted a man for instigating the murder,
    but acquitted 19 people on state conspiracy charges. For this, Dink
    supporters say justice was not served.

    "The real subjects of this case have not been imprisoned," For me,
    it represents the state's attitude towards this kind of political
    murders. Like they mostly protect the killers rather than punish them."

    Dink was shot dead just outside his office by 17-year-old nationalist
    Ogun Samast. Samast was sentenced last year to 22 years in jail.

    But Dink's family and supporters claim senior members of the Turkish
    state were the architects of his murder. Dink had been a target
    for nationalists and the state for describing the mass killings of
    Armenians in Turkey during World War I as genocide. Shortly before
    his murder he was convicted of insulting Turkey with his views.

    The Turkish representative of U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, Emma
    Sinclair Webb, says with so much evidence implicating the state in
    Dink's murder, the court's decision gives a disturbing message.

    "If you are an Armenian journalist in Turkey, you can be murdered, and
    your killers who are deeply connected with the state will somehow not
    be investigated for their links with the state," said Webb. "And the
    state authorities will not be held to account. That is the message
    this case gives. And more broadly, the case comes in [a] climate
    of clamp-down on the government oppositionists and imprisonment of
    particularly Kurdish journalists."

    Turkey's ruling AK party is facing growing criticism in connection
    with the case. The party had been seen as being in the forefront of
    purging the state of anti-democratic forces.

    Hundreds of senior state officials, including army officers, are
    currently on trial as part of Ergenekon, a network prosecutors allege
    was seeking to overthrow the government and implicated in numerous
    political assassinations. A prosecutor in the Dink trial also claimed
    Ergenekon was behind the Dink killing - a charge rejected by the court.

    Political scientist Cengiz Aktar of Istanbul Bahcesehir University
    says the Dink verdict is a worrying sign for Turkey. He argues now
    that the state is purged of anti-government forces, the ruling AK
    party has become the status quo.

    "We have always had a difference between the government and state,"
    said Aktar. "The state was actually working against the AK government
    in the early years of its power. But now it is one and the same. It is
    clear the Turkish democratic transformation is coming to an end. It
    means the old forces, the old elite, and the old habits will come
    back."

    Addressing the media after the verdict, Fethiye Cetin, a lawyer
    representing the Dink family, gave a warning to the government.

    Cetin says those in power today appear to have formed an alliance
    with the traditional forces of the state, but she says their alliance
    is temporary unless the state transforms itself," said Cetin. "She
    says this traditional force will eventually end its alliance by
    exterminating those in power.

    Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc acknowledged the criticism
    about the verdict and says it can be appealed.

    But among Dink supporters protesting the verdict, there are mixed
    feelings about whether justice can ever be secured.

    "No, not now," said a supporter. "But we believe we will get justice
    with this activity. We believe we will take our justice for Hrant. We
    must take justice. It is a state murdering."

    "I just believe in the justice, in the people, because I am not
    believing in justice in this country anymore," aded another supporter.

    Dink's supporters are now preparing for a long battle for justice. The
    outcome of that struggle is being seen as a crucial test for the
    government in its commitment to democratic reform.

Working...
X