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Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Jan 24 2015
The ever-reinterpreted Hrant Dink murder
by Mustafa Akyol
On Jan. 17, 2007, Hrant Dink, a Turkish Armenian intellectual and the
editor-in-chief of the Istanbul-based Armenian daily newspaper, Agos,
was assassinated right outside his office in one of the busiest
streets in the country. The assassin, Ogün Samast, was a 17-year-old
ultra-nationalist from Trabzon, a Black Sea town known for its tough
guys and nationalist circles. He was apparently encouraged by his
elder `brothers' to `punish the Armenian who insulted Turkishness.' It
seems they were fanatic and vulgar enough to not even realize that
Dink in fact never `insulted' Turks, but rather tried to reconcile
them with Armenians.
The murder sparked a widespread reaction, as tens of thousands marched
in Istanbul for Dink's funeral. Moreover, finding the `real culprits'
of the murder, besides the trigger-man Samast and his closest buddy
Yasin Hayal, turned into a major liberal cause.
However, there was also a broader political drama going on in Turkey
at the time. The alliance between the ruling Justice and Development
Party (AKP) and the Gülen movement was getting ready to take on the
old establishment, which was packed with ultra-nationalists, some of
whom shared the very same ideology that targeted Hrant Dink. That is
why, in subsequent years, the Dink murder became one of the
much-quoted references for the `Ergenekon' case. Accordingly, there
was a heinous secularist-nationalist cabal called `Ergenekon' that had
organized almost every evil in recent Turkish history, including
political assassinations. Various spokesmen for both the AKP and the
Gülen movement pushed for this theory, practically using the Dink
murder to demonize the masters of the `Old Turkey.'
However, the co-masters of the `New Turkey' were destined to clash
soon. As is well known, the AKP and the Gülen movement became the most
bitter of enemies soon after toppling their common enemies. The AKP
proved to be victorious in this battle, and thus initiated a zealous
purge on the `parallel state' of the Gülen movement. Right now, the
hunt of members of this `parallel state' is the number one item on the
AKP's agenda, especially for President Tayyip ErdoÄ?an.
Naturally, this new threat necessitates a new history. There is
therefore no wonder why Turkey's near history is now being re-written
by pro-ErdoÄ?an commentators with an obsessive focus on the `parallel
state.' In a strikingly pragmatic way, every evil attributed to
`Ergenekon' just a few years ago is now being attributed to the
`parallels.' The same logic works for the Dink murder as well, as the
real culprits of the assassination are now defined as police chiefs
that are allegedly members of the Gülen movement, instead of the
gendarmarie officers who were allegedly members of `Ergenekon.'
If you ask my humble view of this, first I would say that I do not buy
these politically-driven narratives. The Dink murder, like everything
else, should be investigated regardless of the ruling narrative. In
fact, the very fact that there is a `ruling narrative' should make us
suspicious about the `truth' that it presents to us with such ardor
and passion. Moreover, I also believe that evil in Turkey (like
elsewhere) is less organized than what people generally believe.
Ultra-nationalist hatred toward non-Muslims is such a widespread evil
in Turkey that it could have targeted Dink (and other victims of that
era) in less of a conspiracy than what many assume. The real culprit,
in other words, may well be neither `Ergenekon' nor the `parallel
state,' but rather the mere banality of evil.
January/24/2015
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/the-ever-reinterpreted-hrant-dink-murder.aspx?PageID=238&NID=77362&NewsCatID=411
Jan 24 2015
The ever-reinterpreted Hrant Dink murder
by Mustafa Akyol
On Jan. 17, 2007, Hrant Dink, a Turkish Armenian intellectual and the
editor-in-chief of the Istanbul-based Armenian daily newspaper, Agos,
was assassinated right outside his office in one of the busiest
streets in the country. The assassin, Ogün Samast, was a 17-year-old
ultra-nationalist from Trabzon, a Black Sea town known for its tough
guys and nationalist circles. He was apparently encouraged by his
elder `brothers' to `punish the Armenian who insulted Turkishness.' It
seems they were fanatic and vulgar enough to not even realize that
Dink in fact never `insulted' Turks, but rather tried to reconcile
them with Armenians.
The murder sparked a widespread reaction, as tens of thousands marched
in Istanbul for Dink's funeral. Moreover, finding the `real culprits'
of the murder, besides the trigger-man Samast and his closest buddy
Yasin Hayal, turned into a major liberal cause.
However, there was also a broader political drama going on in Turkey
at the time. The alliance between the ruling Justice and Development
Party (AKP) and the Gülen movement was getting ready to take on the
old establishment, which was packed with ultra-nationalists, some of
whom shared the very same ideology that targeted Hrant Dink. That is
why, in subsequent years, the Dink murder became one of the
much-quoted references for the `Ergenekon' case. Accordingly, there
was a heinous secularist-nationalist cabal called `Ergenekon' that had
organized almost every evil in recent Turkish history, including
political assassinations. Various spokesmen for both the AKP and the
Gülen movement pushed for this theory, practically using the Dink
murder to demonize the masters of the `Old Turkey.'
However, the co-masters of the `New Turkey' were destined to clash
soon. As is well known, the AKP and the Gülen movement became the most
bitter of enemies soon after toppling their common enemies. The AKP
proved to be victorious in this battle, and thus initiated a zealous
purge on the `parallel state' of the Gülen movement. Right now, the
hunt of members of this `parallel state' is the number one item on the
AKP's agenda, especially for President Tayyip ErdoÄ?an.
Naturally, this new threat necessitates a new history. There is
therefore no wonder why Turkey's near history is now being re-written
by pro-ErdoÄ?an commentators with an obsessive focus on the `parallel
state.' In a strikingly pragmatic way, every evil attributed to
`Ergenekon' just a few years ago is now being attributed to the
`parallels.' The same logic works for the Dink murder as well, as the
real culprits of the assassination are now defined as police chiefs
that are allegedly members of the Gülen movement, instead of the
gendarmarie officers who were allegedly members of `Ergenekon.'
If you ask my humble view of this, first I would say that I do not buy
these politically-driven narratives. The Dink murder, like everything
else, should be investigated regardless of the ruling narrative. In
fact, the very fact that there is a `ruling narrative' should make us
suspicious about the `truth' that it presents to us with such ardor
and passion. Moreover, I also believe that evil in Turkey (like
elsewhere) is less organized than what people generally believe.
Ultra-nationalist hatred toward non-Muslims is such a widespread evil
in Turkey that it could have targeted Dink (and other victims of that
era) in less of a conspiracy than what many assume. The real culprit,
in other words, may well be neither `Ergenekon' nor the `parallel
state,' but rather the mere banality of evil.
January/24/2015
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/the-ever-reinterpreted-hrant-dink-murder.aspx?PageID=238&NID=77362&NewsCatID=411