Hrant Dink Shot Dead in Istanbul
Hrant Dink, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2005
The BBC reports that Turkish-Armenian writer Hrant Dink has been murdered in Istanbul. According to the report, Dink was shot three times outside of the office of the Agos weekly newspaper he edited. Oneworld Multimedia expresses its condolences to Dink’s family and calls upon the Turkish authorities to immediately apprehend those responsible for his murder.
This is a calamity not only for Armenians, but also for every Turk and the country’s aspirations to become a member of the European Union. Actually, this murder is a disgrace and a crime that merits serious action from both within and outside Turkey. If anything, this should now be reason enough for Turkey to own up to its past and to re-evaluate the treatment of its minorities.
Enough is enough.
The Turkish-Armenian writer and journalist Hrant Dink has been shot dead, Turkish media report.
Dink, the high-profile editor of newspaper Agos, was shot three times outside its offices in Istanbul, the paper said.
Dink was one of the writers who had been prosecuted under Turkey’s strict laws against “insulting Turkishness”.
He was given a six-month suspended sentence in October 2005 after writing about the Armenian “genocide” of 1915.
Turkey’s NTV television said police were searching for a teenager wearing a white hat and a denim jacket in connection with the murder.
The channel showed pictures of a white sheet covering the journalist’s body in front of the newspaper building’s entrance.
Dink, 53, had received threats from nationalists who viewed him as a traitor, the Associated Press news agency reported.
He was a public figure in Turkey - one of its most prominent Armenian voices.
He once gave an interview with the Associated Press in which he cried while describing the hatred some Turks had for him, saying he could not stay in a country where he was unwanted.
Hundreds of thousands of Armenians died in 1915, in what many Armenians say was a systematic massacre at the hands of the Ottoman Turks.
Turkey denies any genocide, saying the deaths were a part of World War I.
Turkey and neighbouring Armenia still have no official relations.
The website of Dink’s paper currently displays his portrait on a sigle black page, and the Armenian press obviously carries the news. Moreover, the fact that this is now headline news across the world really means that the Turkish government must act — and quite visibly and vocally too. This is a disgrace. Really, a disgrace. I can only hope that Armenians and Turks can come together to mourn and lament his loss — as well as to act upon it.
Hrant Dink’s Killing Shocked Turks
19.01.2007 18:21 GMT+04:00/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Nothing worse than Hrant Dink’s killing could happen in Turkey on the threshold of elections, Erkut Emcioğlu, International Relations Coordinator of ARI Movement told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. Hrant Dink was a symbol of peace and friendship. The Turkish people are shocked and the internal situation in the country is under threat. He was an outstanding journalist and bright individuality, Emcioğlu said. Dink’s killing undermines democratic principles in Turkey and jeopardizes Turkey’s accession to the EU, since he was once sentenced under Article 301 the cancellation of which is demanded by the European Union.
Hrant Dink Shot Dead in Istanbul
19.01.2007 17:46 GMT+04:00/PanARMENIAN.Net/ As PanARMENIAN.Net came to know from ВВС, Hrant Dink the high-profile editor of newspaper Agos, was shot three times outside his offices in Istanbul. Dink was one of the writers who had been prosecuted under the notorious Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. He was given a six-month suspended sentence in October 2005 after writing about the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Dink had received threats from nationalists who viewed him as a traitor.
Incidently, the Armenian blogosphere has been so far slow to pick up on this news with only Cilicia.com’s Life in Armenia spreading the news (Update: Now iArarat has posted the news). However, what will be interesting for me to see will be how the Turkish blogosphere comments on this tragic event. One can only hope that opinion there will be impartial, apologetic, and sensitive.
I don’t know the Turkish blogosphere well apart from Ektan’s Field Diary, but I hope that the reaction in Turkey is one of shock. Anyway, that one Turkish blog which I do check carries the news, so please post any links that you might find in the comments section of this post. To be honest, I think that his murder should concern Turks in Turkey more than it should Armenians here or in the Diaspora.
ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) — A prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist who spoke out against the killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire early last century was shot to death Friday.
[…]
The killing prompted swift denunciation by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said the attack was a “shock” and an “insult” to the Turkish nation and a “dark day” — not only for Dink’s family but for all of Turkey as well.
“The dark hands that killed him will be found and punished,” Erdogan said, in televised remarks.
[…]
Andrew Finkel, a journalist in Turkey and a friend of Dink’s, emphasized that the killing was “a tragedy” for a country attempting to “come to terms with its past.”
Finkel said resentment toward Dink existed among ultranationalist Turks, and said the same people who staged “ugly scenes” at his trials are the same people who staged rallies directed at Orhan Pamuk, the Nobel Prize-winning Turkish writer who faced charges of insulting Turkishness as well.
He described Dink as a “bright” and brash” man who was a “well-known figure in Istanbul” and an advocate for Turkey’s small Armenian community — a once-populous group now numbering around 60,000 or 70,000.
“If anything, he was a great Turkish patriot,” Finkel told CNN in an interview.
[…]
He said that over the last 15 years, 18 Turkish journalists have been killed — making the country the eighth deadliest in the world for journalists in that period. He said that many of the deaths took place in the early 1990s “at the peak of the Kurdish separatist insurgency.”
He said killings, other attacks against journalists that don’t result in deaths, and the many cases of Turkish journalists facing criminal charges under “vague statutes” create a “chilling effect” among media workers.
[…]
Fehmi Koru, a columnist at the Yeni Safak newspaper, said the murder was aimed at destabilizing Turkey.
“His loss is the loss of Turkey,” Koru said.
Let’s hope that Dink will be remembered by both Armenian and Turk alike, and that his death can end the hatred between nationalist elements in both camps. Turkey must be honest about its own history as well as come to terms with this murder, but Armenians must also realize that Dink chose to live alongside Turks and will be remembered and mourned by many of them as well.
Instead, I believe that Dink’s murder has to result in something very significant happening in Turkey. If it doesn’t then society there has a lot to answer for. Already, some online commentators such as Britannica Blog’s Michael Levy has written something on a constitutional article that Armenian, Turk and Kurd alike are prosecuted under.
In Istanbul the Turkish-Armenian writer Hrant Dink, editor of the newspaper Agos, was assassinated outside his office. His murder is the culmination of a life spent getting under the skin of Turkish authorities and the Turkish public. In November, my blog post on free speech quoted Dink as critical of a proposed French law that would make it a crime to deny that the Armenian massacres by Turks constituted genocide. If the French law went into effect, Dink claimed “I will go to France and publicly declare that there was no Armenian genocide—even though I fervently believe the opposite.”
In 2005 Dink was given a six-month suspended sentence for “denigrating Turkishness” (Orhan Pamuk, the recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize for Literature was also subjected to the same charge in 2005) after calling the Armenian massacres genocide. His strong views alienated many Turks, and he was constantly the target of threats by those who considered him a traitor.
Though it’s probably asking too much, hopefully Dink’s death will cause a reexamination of the Turkish constitution’s Article 301, which makes it illegal to “denigrate Turkishness,” and the treatment of individuals who hold views that run counter to those of the majority of Turks, and lead to a real debate whereby people who hold such contrarian views–not only in Turkey but elsewhere–can make their claims without fear of prison time or death threats.
Michael P.F. van der Galien also suggests that it’s time for Turkey to stop prosecuting its citizens for speaking their minds. He also says that it’s time for Turkey to finally allow open discussion on the 1915 Armenian Genocide.
I suggest that the Turkish government honors Dink’s legacy by changing its policy regarding what’s known as the Armenian genocide by, from now on, encouraging the debate about it, instead of killing it by prosecuting those who don’t agree with the official government line.
Time will tell if Dink’s death will result in even more hatred, or push Turks to consider what type of country they want to live in. As one Turkish human rights lawyer said to me in London over a decade ago, until Turkey can own up to it’s past, it will never be able to create a democratic future.
And on that, I totally agree.
Hirant Dink was killed in Istanbul just before he was entering the AGOS newpaper building in Sisli area, today, 19th January 2007.
The killer suggested that 18-19 years old. Police held 2 young people around Taksim area.
Right now, In Istanbul, Taksim area people are gathering to PROTEST KILLING.
Left wing parties, militant and activists took street of Istanbul…
They are chatting as
LONG LIVE BROTHERSHIP OF THE PEOPLE.
STATE IS THE MURDERER.
I am sorry to inform this painful news.
Mustafa
I AM AN ERMENIAN!
Comment by Mustafa — January 19, 2007 @ 7:13 pm
More on reaction to Dink’s murder in the global blogosphere can be found here.
Comment by Onnik — January 19, 2007 @ 7:21 pm
Comment by Onnik — January 19, 2007 @ 9:31 pm
My condolences to the people of Turkey and the people of Armenia. This is an irreparable loss.
Comment by Observer — January 19, 2007 @ 10:10 pm
Blogrel has more links here, while Cilicia.com’s Life in the Armenian Diaspora has photos here, and a response from one blogger here.
Comment by Onnik — January 19, 2007 @ 10:11 pm
My deep condolences to all the people who lament the loss. I think he knew the risk he took and that it would cost him his life. I wonder where he will become a hero, Armenia or Turkey?
So pity…
Comment by Zarchka — January 19, 2007 @ 10:48 pm
FEDERATION EURO-ARMENIENNE
pour la Justice et Démocratie
Avenue de la Renaissance 10
B-1000 Bruxelles
Tel. : +32 (0) 2 732 70 26
Tel. / Fax. : +32 (0) 2 732 70 27
E-mail : contact@eafjd.org
COMMUNIQUE DE PRESSE
pour diffusion immédiate
19 janvier 2007
Contact : Varténie ECHO
Tel. / Fax. : +32 (0) 2 732 70 27
LA TURQUIE ASSASSINE HRANT DINK
Hrant Dink, le rédacteur en chef d’Agos, journal arménien de Turquie, vient d’être assassiné devant les locaux de son quotidien. Les circonstances du crime ne sont pas encore élucidées mais on sait qu’au moins une personne – en fuite – est impliquée. M. Dink a été atteint de deux balles dans la tête, deux dans l’abdomen et six douilles ont été retrouvées à proximité.
Hrant Dink s’était fait connaître par les critiques modérées qu’il avait formulées envers son pays, notamment en raison du traitement des minorités et de la liberté d’expression en Turquie. Il était perçu en Occident comme un partisan de la modernisation et de l’européanisation de son pays.
« Nous sommes bouleversés et horrifiés par cette intolérable mise à mort » a déclaré Hilda Tchoboian la présidente de la Fédération Euro-Arménienne.
« Quand on éduque sa population à la haine de l’autre, quand depuis plus d’un siècle on enseigne aux enfants la supériorité de la race turque, quand jusqu’aujourd’hui on autorise et on honore les formations d’extrême-droite sur son territoire, alors on ne peut s’étonner que de tels actes viennent ainsi cibler un Arménien. Cet assassinat ignoble prouve une fois encore que la racisme a des racines profondes en Turquie » a poursuivi la présidente de la Fédération Euro-Arménienne.
La Fédération remarque que parmi la dizaine de « dissidents » à la ligne étatique de la Turquie, c’est précisément celui d’origine arménienne qui a fait l’objet de ce meurtre. Elle considère que, quelles que soient les circonstances que l’enquête établira, l’Etat turc porte une responsabilité écrasante dans cet assassinat. Elle condamne ces autorités pour leur incapacité à assumer la sécurité des journalistes et des intellectuels.
« Cet acte délibéré vise à maintenir la communauté arménienne dans un climat de terreur afin de bien montrer à tous qu’il est des lignes à ne pas franchir en matière de liberté d’expression et d’affirmation du génocide des Arméniens » a ajouté Hilda Tchoboian.
« Toute tentative de capitalisation politique que le gouvernement turc pourrait être amené à échafauder afin de promouvoir une image libérale à travers des manifestations de sympathie publique ne pourrait que constituer la marque de son cynisme. Les autorités d’Ankara seraient bien avisées de s’abstenir de telles démarches opportunistes qui seraient interprétées négativement en Europe » a conclu la présidente de la Fédération Euro-Arménienne.
####
———————————————————–
Comment by FEDERATION EURO-ARMENIENNE — January 19, 2007 @ 11:59 pm
Ara Manoogian over at Martuni or Bust now shares his opinion on Dink’s assassination.
Comment by Onnik — January 20, 2007 @ 12:04 am
sorry mate, Hrant Dink was not only Armenian, he was also Turkish and he’s respected journalist. Currently thousands of Turks are walking on the streets for the murder. Timing is surprising. Timing is quite surprising. Turkey is considering to take control in Northern Iraq, Armenian Diaspora is lobbying in US Senate…
Why he was not killed after his trial or howcome he was alive since now; but especially he murdered today; this time?
Makes sense?
http://www.turkdiaspora.org/?c=118&a=1116
http://turkdiaspora.org/data/head.jpg
Comment by TD — January 20, 2007 @ 12:17 am
TD, please read my post before commenting. Regarding Dink being a Turkish citizen, I said that and mentioned that this murder has ramifications for the whole of Turkish society.
Regarding the timing, no doubt nationalists wanted to derail democratization in Turkey and also hit out at Armenians.
But does that excuse anything?
Moreover, one question needs to be answered. If Dink reported threats on his life, why weren’t the Turkish police keeping an eye on him?
The matter is that Turkey doesn’t need this murder, but arguably, it could have prevented it.
Comment by Onnik — January 20, 2007 @ 12:31 am
TD - if you understand that Hrant Dink was a Turkish citizen, if you understand that the loss is mine (and all Armenians), yours (and all Turks) and everybody elses - please mind your words and let us dwell in our pain.
Comment by Observer — January 20, 2007 @ 12:56 am
Agos now has a press release on its front page.
Comment by Onnik — January 20, 2007 @ 1:46 am
Fury in Turkey at editor’s murder
Thousands of people have rallied in Istanbul to protest at the murder of a prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist, Hrant Dink, outside his office. Video of the rally here The protest and solidarity march was attended by various organizations including D…
Trackback by Erkan's field diary — January 20, 2007 @ 5:21 am
Here is another barbaric act to continue to deny their savage so called Turkish past…though I dont know who killed him those so called turkish natinalis are no more than thiefs….including innocent brain washed army….
Comment by Garo — January 20, 2007 @ 6:57 am
On a related note, BBC is quite disgusting in its coverage of the whole genocide issue; in the obituary to Hrant Dink, they put the word genocide in quotations, and in another instance in the obituary they precede it by the word alleged…
I wrote a letter of complaint to the BBC yesterday:
Dear Sir or Madam:
I am writing this complaint letter regarding the obituary to Hrant Dink, and more generally regarding the BBC’s coverage of the Armenian Genocide/Holocaust. The BBC has, on numerous occasions, referred to the Armenian Genocide - a historical fact recognized by hundreds of prominent historians and holocaust scholars - in terms that can only be deemed offensive both to descendents of survivors of the Armenian Genocide/Holocaust, and more generally the humanitarian and moral values of people around the world. I had hoped that the BBC, as a prestigious journalistic source would espouse a humanitarian and historical perspective, rather than a political one; the pursuit of unbiased reporting cannot overshadow the duty to point to war crimes and genocidal campaigns, however much governments attempt to utilize the issue of recognition in pursuit of political agendas and interests. In as much as this letter is a complaint, it is also an expression of my disappointment with the BBC’s policy on the terminology used to refer to the Armenian Genocide/Holocaust, which has often been placed in quotations, or preceded by the term “alleged”.
I would like to receive a clarification as to why such debasing and - one could argue - denialist or revisionist terminology has been and continues to be adopted as official policy by the BBC, and in what way the Armenian Genocide/Holocaust differs in this regard from the Holocaust of Jews, Gypsies, and other peoples in WWII, and in other times and places. Does the existence of other, opposing narratives that attempt to cast doubt on genocides, automatically mean that both parties should be given the same moral platform, and should this be the case, would it not also entail that the claims of “revisionists” of the WWII Holocaust would have to be given as much credence as those of historians who affirm that this particular inhumane, genocidal campaign has taken place? If not, one can only wonder, are some “allegations” more valid than others, and if so, what are the BBC’s standards for issuing verdicts in the comparative face-off of genocides/holocausts?
I look forward to reading your explanations and responses to my questions, and hope that the BBC would change its policy on the terminology it uses, because it has not only the journalistic duty, but also - I would like to think - the moral duty to do so.
Sincerely,
—
Comment by Basturma Chronicler — January 20, 2007 @ 1:27 pm
The more I think about this the more I realize that Hrant Dink is now a martyr. Not only for the Armenian cause, but for freedom and democracy worldwide. It’s not even a Turk-Armenian issue anymore. It’s clearly now a global issue; there’s no mistaking it, and there’s no turning back.
Comment by cgarbis — January 20, 2007 @ 9:10 pm
there are thousands (if not millions) of people who are against 301, and who simply are ashamed of this thing, these ultra-nationalist scum have been targeting him, Orhan Pamuk and other people and accusing them to be traitors for months.
now the killer has been caught a few hours ago and he’s an 17 year old uneducated unemployed bastard. Hirant Dink was truly an honest man and a humanist, and there’s lots of people in Istanbul like me, who are going to attend his funeral, i know these might seem to you like crocodile tears, but believe me there are lots of people who are against fascism & anti democratism in turkey, who are educated, who want to integrate with the world, who want to resolve the feud between turkey & armenia / cyprus whatever..
but the nationalist tendency is also on the rise, media is angry with EU and media’s stupid lies * and some nationalist propaganda makes uneducated people do unbelievable stuff like this. The most disgusting thing is the ultra-nationalists are now saying that they haven’t done it, but the guy who was caught seems to be a nationalist. I don’t know what to say, I’ve been crying and fighting online with these scum for the last 2 days, he was truly a loveable figure and we lost him.
Nationalism is a virus and this is once again gonna hurt the peacemongers among both sides
Comment by mersenne_twister — January 21, 2007 @ 4:26 am
and also, like the Turkish nationalists, there are always the Armenian nationalists who never fail to criticise Turks. know that it’s not the people but the goverments are the problem.
i don’t care if you believe it or not but after 1 hour thousands of people were on the scene with photos and flowers & candles and stuff, after 8 hours there was an emergent mass protest with over 10.000 people. frankly i’ve never seen people gather like this before. it was a huge reaction.
Yes the state had to protect him and it’s totally responsible for this and the media is too because they have been letting this nationalist tendency to go on, but people in turkey (istanbul at least) are terribly sick of this stuff too.
the killer is a guy from trabzon from the east of the blacksea region, unemployed and uneducated, he has come in istanbul 3 days ago , the governor of Istanbul just said on TV. it’s such a shame that Hirant Dink is that but everyone is just as sad as the rest of the world , apart from this goddamn ultra-nationalist Turks & Armenians who never see their wrongs.
Comment by mersenne_twister — January 21, 2007 @ 4:40 am
there are always the Armenian nationalists who never fail to criticise Turks.
Agreed; but there are also Armenians who criticize these (ultra-)nationalists, as much as they criticize Turkish (ultra-) nationalists. The problem is that the issue has received a racial/ethnic colouring thanks to the nationalists on both sides, rather than a humanitarian one, which it is supposed to be about. The Armenian nationalists have also hijacked this cause to serve their nationalist interests and agendas. Which is a shame.
Comment by Basturma Chronicler — January 21, 2007 @ 1:18 pm
Alright, I got a response from BBC, which was quite pathetic:
Dear —
Thank you for your comments. The question of whether the mass killings
of Armenians during World War I amounted to genocide is hotly debated
internationally. That is why we put “genocide” in inverted commas. The
Turkish state admits that hundreds of thousands of Armenians were killed
in 1915 in widespread fighting on the eastern front. But it disputes the
genocide charge, and the suggestion that the death toll was well over a
million.
Regards, L Peter, Europe desk.
—
To which I responded:
Dear L. Peter,
Thank you for the response. You might choose not to follow up on this reply, and that is perfectly understandable. However, I will comment on your response, and have the moral and ethical duty to challenge your assertions.
There is no international debate on the Armenian Genocide/Holocaust. The question has been sealed in historians’ and scholars’ circles (I will leave the task of investigation of history to you and your staff, who have the duty, I would like to think, of investigating before using such terminology as I referred to), whereas politicians continue to use this issue to rally people to vote for their parties, on this or that side of the so-called “[hot] debate”. However, even in the political realm, the Armenian Genocide/Holocaust has been recognized by a number of countries, quite a few of them in Europe, and there are laws in place which would make denial of the Genocide a crime that would be punished by fines. I find your “international debate” argument rather odd, as I cannot imagine anyone advocating the placement of the WWII Holocaust in inverted commas, should it ever become “hotly debated” (in fact, in many areas of the world, it has been and continues to be, although the ones mounting the challenge to the historical “narrative” are discredited as anti-Semites, and rightly so). I find it odd that any questioning of the WWII Holocaust would be dealt with in the context of blasphemy and racism and anti-Semitism, whereas BBC actively espouses an entirely different set of standards on the issue of the Armenian Genocide/Holocaust. If you have not noticed the moral lapse between your coverage of the WWII Holocaust and the Armenian Holocaust, I would recommend that you take a look at the article by Frances Harrison, titled “Where Holocaust denial is welcomed”, dated Dec. 16, 2006.
Moreover, your response fails to address the term “alleged”, which was used to refer to the “mass killings” that you choose not to refer to as genocide, as it is allegedly “hotly debated”. I quote the entire paragraph:
“His articles about the alleged mass killings of Armenians by Turks at the beginning of the 20th century had sparked huge controversy in the country on a number of occasions.”
Since you claim that the Turkish state admits that there were indeed mass killings of Armenians, but only challenges the issue of intent to commit genocide, how can you explain the above-quoted sentence? Lest I cause any unncessary discomfort or embarrassment, I should clarify that the question is strictly rhetorical, and I do not demand any further clarification; in this context, I would like to pose yet another question, which you also needn’t answer: would BBC have used the same terminology had the German state (somehow) refused to recognize the WWII Holocaust from the onset? Would the politicization of the non-recognition of the mass-murder industry have been taken for granted and reported without being questioned? Would the WWII Holocaust have become a “hotly debated” issue “internationally”? More importantly, would it have ceased to be a Holocaust, and would BBC have been justified in using inverted commas to refer to it? Would the respectable BBC staff, yourself included, have even imagined such a possibility, let alone practiced it? Does the growing trend of WWII Holocaust denial in the Middle East and arguably also in Europe make the WWII Holocaust “hotly debated” (if not, why not), and most importantly, who makes the ultimate decision as to which millions of people have a valid opinion and are therefore “hotly debat[ing]” the issue, and which millions do not have a valid opinion and must be ignored? Also rhetorical, so feel free to ignore.
I am also aware that the drawing of comparisons between the [Jewish] Holocaust (which I refer to as the WWII Holocaust, as the victims were not solely Jewish, and the non-Jewish human beings also deserve a mention) and any other holocaust, let alone the “Armenian tragedies” as Shimon Peres once referred to it, is not very popular, especially so amongst those who distinguish between some mass-killings and others. I assure you and the respectable BBC staff, that I intend no such thing in drawing comparisons. After all, some sufferings are “unique”, and others are… simply “hotly debated” mass-killings.
I look forward to the day the Armenian Holocaust would no longer be hotly debated, and will welcome the decision of the BBC to abide by the conclusions of this debate, whatever they may be. Until that day comes, I realize that there is the urgent need and moral duty to preserve the uniqueness of the suffering of some people. I suppose that was the death will of the victims of the Nazi regime, namely, to deny and diminish the suffering of human beings for political, national, racial, or other interests. After all, in a world of politics and nationalist rhetoric and agendas, it is easier to dehumanize than to humanize.
My respects,
–
Comment by Basturma Chronicler — January 23, 2007 @ 12:45 am