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DINK CASE 'DARK STAIN ON JUDICIARY'
Today's Zaman
Jan 24 2012
Turkey
The Hrant Dink murder case once again topped the agenda after a court
issued a verdict to sentence a man for instigating the murder and
to acquit all other suspects charged with membership in a terrorist
organization. The editor-in-chief of the Agos weekly was shot dead
in 2007 in front of the newspaper's building. The acquittal, which
journalist Cengiz Candar calls a "dark stain on the Turkish judiciary,"
continues to be the target of criticism from various columnists. But
these journalists also see it as an opportunity to think about the
issue of minorities in Turkey.
Sabah's Mahmut Ovur mentions the problem of "hatred" in his article.
He says hatred is a greater issue than we think and that it is the
reason behind many tragic incidents in Turkey. "Minorities and
their rights were ignored. The Kurdish identity was ignored and
different ethnic and religious groups as well as the opposite sexes
were alienated. As a matter of fact, this stance towards different
groups has mostly been encouraged by the state. The state adopted
that stance first, after which it spread to politics and finally to
the people on the street," says Ovur, who went on to list some of
the incidents. He mentioned the 1937 massacre in the predominantly
Alevi region of Dersim, the Sept. 6-7, 1955 anti-Greek riots, the
2007 Zirve Publishing House murders that killed three Christians,
the attacks on houses of the Roma in Manisa's Selendi district in 2010.
Ovur says that by failing to deliver justice and exposing the real
plotters of the Dink murder, the court verdict also makes Turkey's
fight against those provocateurs and plotters of these events much
more difficult. He says exposing the organization behind the murder
would bring us closer to a permanent solution for erasing the traces
of provocateurs and their hatred towards minorities, and that it would
ultimately lead to Turkey facing its dark past. He finally turns his
attention to a recent campaign called "I want hate crime laws," put
forward by various NGOs. Ovur suggests we pay attention and support
the campaign for the sake of future generations.
Meanwhile Yeni Å~^afak's Ozlem Albayrak, speaking on how to please
Armenians living in Turkey, suggests something completely different.
She says Turkish-Armenian journalist Hayko Bagdat in an interview
suggested that people, and especially religious people, bring the
issue of Armenian bodies that were not properly buried to the agenda.
He underlines that it is an important issue that can mend the ties
between Armenians and Turks to a large extent. Bagdat explains why
he especially calls on religious people to action by saying that true
Islam tells Muslims to bury the dead properly, regardless of religion,
and that Muslims are the ones who should take the initiative on the
issue. Finally, Ozlem notes that there are many things left to be
done to improve Turkey in the spheres of democracy and humanity,
and adds that it is about time we identify the problems and start
doing something about them.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Today's Zaman
Jan 24 2012
Turkey
The Hrant Dink murder case once again topped the agenda after a court
issued a verdict to sentence a man for instigating the murder and
to acquit all other suspects charged with membership in a terrorist
organization. The editor-in-chief of the Agos weekly was shot dead
in 2007 in front of the newspaper's building. The acquittal, which
journalist Cengiz Candar calls a "dark stain on the Turkish judiciary,"
continues to be the target of criticism from various columnists. But
these journalists also see it as an opportunity to think about the
issue of minorities in Turkey.
Sabah's Mahmut Ovur mentions the problem of "hatred" in his article.
He says hatred is a greater issue than we think and that it is the
reason behind many tragic incidents in Turkey. "Minorities and
their rights were ignored. The Kurdish identity was ignored and
different ethnic and religious groups as well as the opposite sexes
were alienated. As a matter of fact, this stance towards different
groups has mostly been encouraged by the state. The state adopted
that stance first, after which it spread to politics and finally to
the people on the street," says Ovur, who went on to list some of
the incidents. He mentioned the 1937 massacre in the predominantly
Alevi region of Dersim, the Sept. 6-7, 1955 anti-Greek riots, the
2007 Zirve Publishing House murders that killed three Christians,
the attacks on houses of the Roma in Manisa's Selendi district in 2010.
Ovur says that by failing to deliver justice and exposing the real
plotters of the Dink murder, the court verdict also makes Turkey's
fight against those provocateurs and plotters of these events much
more difficult. He says exposing the organization behind the murder
would bring us closer to a permanent solution for erasing the traces
of provocateurs and their hatred towards minorities, and that it would
ultimately lead to Turkey facing its dark past. He finally turns his
attention to a recent campaign called "I want hate crime laws," put
forward by various NGOs. Ovur suggests we pay attention and support
the campaign for the sake of future generations.
Meanwhile Yeni Å~^afak's Ozlem Albayrak, speaking on how to please
Armenians living in Turkey, suggests something completely different.
She says Turkish-Armenian journalist Hayko Bagdat in an interview
suggested that people, and especially religious people, bring the
issue of Armenian bodies that were not properly buried to the agenda.
He underlines that it is an important issue that can mend the ties
between Armenians and Turks to a large extent. Bagdat explains why
he especially calls on religious people to action by saying that true
Islam tells Muslims to bury the dead properly, regardless of religion,
and that Muslims are the ones who should take the initiative on the
issue. Finally, Ozlem notes that there are many things left to be
done to improve Turkey in the spheres of democracy and humanity,
and adds that it is about time we identify the problems and start
doing something about them.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress