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Cihan News Agency (CNA) - Turkey
January 16, 2013 Wednesday
Aren't the murders of Armenian women hate crimes?
ISTANBUL (CIHAN)- In the early days of last December, an 87-year-old
Armenian woman was attacked in her apartment in Istanbul where she
lived on her own. Her valuables were taken, she was severely beaten
and as a result she lost one eye. We do not know her identity. Most
probably she preferred to remain anonymous for reasons we can all
easily understand. Therefore she is referred as an "elderly Armenian
woman" in related news.
We know the identity of another Armenian woman who was not as lucky.
Maritsa Küçük, who also lived on her own, was also attacked in her
apartment on Dec. 28. She was brutally killed after being stabbed
seven times. Her valuables were also taken.
Another murder took place in Istanbul, which may not be directly
linked to murders of the two Armenian women, but we should consider
that there may be some links between them. On Jan. 10, 40-year-old
Ilker Sahin was found dead in his apartment, his throat slit. Sahin is
not Armenian but he was working as a computer teacher at Aramyan
Uncuyan Primary School, one of the Armenian schools in the city.
When I read the news about Küçük's murder I sent a message to my
followers on Twitter. I said, "If an Armenian woman in Turkey was
killed after being stabbed seven times it is a hate crime unless
otherwise proved." My tweet stirred quite a passionate discussion.
Some supported the message, some criticized it, some questioned my
motives for emphasizing the origin of the victims, because, after all,
is this not a country where a lot of women are attacked every single
day?
Imagine, Jews and people who are associated with them, all of a sudden
become the targets of brutal attacks in Germany. What would you think
of? The first presumption would be that they are victims of hate
crimes. No matter how much gold and diamonds they stole from the
victims. If the perpetrators' primary purpose was theft, they could
have stolen these valuables using much less violence and force.
When I say there is a presumption of a hate crime for all three of
these murders, I mean a couple of things: First of all, security
forces should investigate these crimes first and foremost, keeping
this presumption in mind. They should look at all the clues and
evidence from this angle. The second thing is this: The police and
other authorities are obliged to give quite a comprehensive
explanation to society if they conclude that these are not hate
crimes. If you remember, Istanbul police even tried to present Hrant
Dink's murder in 2007 as an ordinary murder committed by some
youngsters who acted out of anger.
Hate crimes cannot be evaluated by ignoring the specific history of a
given country. If Armenian women and a teacher from an Armenian school
were brutally attacked and killed one after another in Turkey, there
is a very strong presumption that hate crimes were committed. I really
hope that everyone takes these crimes very seriously and that a
thorough, speedy, transparent and satisfying investigation into these
murders will be conducted. We should all keep an eye on the
investigation of these attacks and murders.
January 16, 2013 Wednesday
Aren't the murders of Armenian women hate crimes?
ISTANBUL (CIHAN)- In the early days of last December, an 87-year-old
Armenian woman was attacked in her apartment in Istanbul where she
lived on her own. Her valuables were taken, she was severely beaten
and as a result she lost one eye. We do not know her identity. Most
probably she preferred to remain anonymous for reasons we can all
easily understand. Therefore she is referred as an "elderly Armenian
woman" in related news.
We know the identity of another Armenian woman who was not as lucky.
Maritsa Küçük, who also lived on her own, was also attacked in her
apartment on Dec. 28. She was brutally killed after being stabbed
seven times. Her valuables were also taken.
Another murder took place in Istanbul, which may not be directly
linked to murders of the two Armenian women, but we should consider
that there may be some links between them. On Jan. 10, 40-year-old
Ilker Sahin was found dead in his apartment, his throat slit. Sahin is
not Armenian but he was working as a computer teacher at Aramyan
Uncuyan Primary School, one of the Armenian schools in the city.
When I read the news about Küçük's murder I sent a message to my
followers on Twitter. I said, "If an Armenian woman in Turkey was
killed after being stabbed seven times it is a hate crime unless
otherwise proved." My tweet stirred quite a passionate discussion.
Some supported the message, some criticized it, some questioned my
motives for emphasizing the origin of the victims, because, after all,
is this not a country where a lot of women are attacked every single
day?
Imagine, Jews and people who are associated with them, all of a sudden
become the targets of brutal attacks in Germany. What would you think
of? The first presumption would be that they are victims of hate
crimes. No matter how much gold and diamonds they stole from the
victims. If the perpetrators' primary purpose was theft, they could
have stolen these valuables using much less violence and force.
When I say there is a presumption of a hate crime for all three of
these murders, I mean a couple of things: First of all, security
forces should investigate these crimes first and foremost, keeping
this presumption in mind. They should look at all the clues and
evidence from this angle. The second thing is this: The police and
other authorities are obliged to give quite a comprehensive
explanation to society if they conclude that these are not hate
crimes. If you remember, Istanbul police even tried to present Hrant
Dink's murder in 2007 as an ordinary murder committed by some
youngsters who acted out of anger.
Hate crimes cannot be evaluated by ignoring the specific history of a
given country. If Armenian women and a teacher from an Armenian school
were brutally attacked and killed one after another in Turkey, there
is a very strong presumption that hate crimes were committed. I really
hope that everyone takes these crimes very seriously and that a
thorough, speedy, transparent and satisfying investigation into these
murders will be conducted. We should all keep an eye on the
investigation of these attacks and murders.