http://www.today.az/news/politics/35252.html
http://www.today.az/news/politics/35248.html
http://www.today.az/news/politics/35184.html
http://www.today.az/news/politics/35190.html

Really, the tragedy of Dink’s murder is stretching far and wide indeed, including across very entrenched ethnic lines. Remarkable considering the fault lines that exist in this region.

Anyway, I remember being impressed by Dink when even as he was facing prosecution in Turkey he came to Yerevan to support a Turkish scholar facing charges here.

http://oneworld.blogsome.com/2005/08/15/turkyilmaz-trial/
http://oneworld.blogsome.com/2005/08/15/hrant-dink-at-turkyilmaz-trial/

Really, Dink was, and still is, an example to us all.

Yesterday after a most successful thesis presentation, I was back home just beginning to enjoy my well-earned holiday, when I heard that one of the prominent Armenian Turkish journalists Hirant Dink was murdered, probably by some fascist SOB. Hirant Dink was a humanist, trying to solve the “Genocide” crisis by trying to construct a bridge between the nationalist Turks and the nationalist Armenians who have been fighting for a hundred years. He was truly an honest person trying to end this feud, but he was brutally murdered. He’s been tried because of the silly nationalist law of `insulting Turkishness` this year because some of his words were taken out of context by Ultra-Nationalist scum, and now despite protests by thousands of people, there are still some people who are celebrating his death (not humans!)

[…]

I’m so ashamed that something like this has happened, he was truly a wonderful guy, who wasn’t understood neither by the Armenians nor the Turks. It seems the world is still a bitter place and sometimes I lose my faith that it will change without a huge world war or some global catacylsm. If you remember the song I featured on New Years Eve, it was a song by Omar Faruk Tekbilek and Richard Hagopyan, it’s so ironic that someone who symbolizes the real brotherhood between Armenians and Turks is dead now and people like us who want Turkey to resolve its problems with all the countries and be more democratic is now less powerful.

So for anyone out there sharing our views on peace and fighting this madness in the world that’s created by Religion and Nationalism, here are some songs from Turkish Armenian Arto Tuncboyaciyan and his Armenian Navy Band. We’ll be attending the funeral, and hopefully there will be thousands of people there who support democracy against these ignorant fascist bastards.

God bless his soul and may we all fight in his spirit to rid the world of ignorance and hatred.

What Democracy Means also has some interesting commentary.

Hrant Dink murdered - by the Turkish state! Not by the ultra-nationalist youth Ogun Samast, 17 years old who doesn’t know any better, but the Turkish State, for this murder is only the culmination of processes long built up by the state machine. Despite the restarted propoganda wars on the internet I still belive in the Turkish people. No people can be classified as “bad”, “fascist”, or one with “poisonous blood”, or “race of murderers” - it is simply NOT ACCEPTABLE. The Turkish people, thousands of them went on streets saying: “We are all Hrant Dink…We are all Armenian..” in an amazing act of solidarity to Hrant Dink, Armenian, their follow citizen. We must be stong now and not give way to provocation.

Zarchka at Life Around Me has posted something after yesterday’s vigil which she also attended here.

… And for a moment the world sighed and got petrified… a short silent came after, which was later followed by persistent noises of someone’s cry, someone’s scream, someone’s complaint or who knows, by someone’s joyous chuckling… because someone who would always struggle for making his voice be heard was shut… forever…

Both of the nations have their great loss, they lost one more person – speech freedom fighter- on who many people pinned their hopes in solving now a global made problem. The atmosphere is sad and tense… many things were said, but more blood is shed than actions…

Just in case you didn’t know about this dude;

http://theinfidel.typepad.com/weblog/2007/01/obituary_hrant_.html

We have a vigil at the UN Tuesday evening.

Sad Lola

Dear friends,

So sad that I can hardly find the words to line.

So sad that the word is ended.

How shall we find the words to explain to our children, still can not find for what had happened?

One more, but the profound way this time that “love or leave” fascist motto backed by paranoid power machine has been forcing us to mix the minds. This is not “the country” we would like to live in. And no place to move.

We do not know who did. No matter, a young transcended as declared at first hand, a para-military extreme right-wing “underground”, or as spoken out now, some-thing/one/where else drive at country’s sake in her progress of everything. That can not hide the shame.

Then immediately, we, tens of thousands have shouted slogans “we are all Hrant! we are all Armenians!” “Turk, Kurd, Armenian! Peoples are brothers and sisters” to reject both to love and to leave. And, hoping to live together with our neighbours even if tomorrow is still foggy, better is smogy while minds remember yesterday’s peace killings in the country. We had same slogans…

I’m living in the same neighbourhood of Istanbul that Hrant Dink was living as many of Armenians do. Plus, black people from Africa gather at week ends. Each afternoon I hear shiny sounds of Armenian children passing through my street back to home from school or church. A flat below mine I have a neighbour, an old nice Armenian lady. I do not know, how we will look at each others face tomorrow.

Peace be with us

Ali

Meanwhile, the same list sends out news of yet another murder of a probably racially motivated murder of an Armenian in Russia. It’s interesting to compare the reaction of how people react to murders of Armenians in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, and how they react when Russians are involved.

Yes, I know, history and territorial claims are involved, but even so. Still, at least some demos were arranged in Yerevan on this too (See here, here. and here). Most of the Armenian blogosphere, however, was silent. Sorry, but I think we should all lament the loss of anyone under such circumstances in the here and now.