Hrant Dink Vigil, European Union Delegation Office, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2007

Now that the BBC reports that the main suspect in the murder of Turkish-Armenian journalist-editor, Hrant Dink, has been apprehended, it only seem appropriate to post an update. Ogun Samast was apparently detained by police after his own father recognized him from CCTV images of the assailant fleeing the scene of the crime.

Istanbul governor Muammer Guler announced the details of the capture in a live television broadcast.

He said Mr Samast, who he said was born in 1990, will be brought to Istanbul for questioning on Sunday along with six other suspects who are already in custody.

There’s only a little bit of commentary from Armenian bloggers on this latest news, but I’ll quote and link to what I know of for now. Raffi at Cilicia.com’s Life in the Armenian Diaspora, for example, posts something.

While it remains to be seen if Samas is indeed the killer, I hope the Turkish government realizes that they have the world watching how they conduct the capture and prosecution of the person who committed this barbaric crime. And this time, the stakes are very high for them to do the right thing.

Also at Blogrel, Hagop Bedrossian recounts his main recollection of Dink in a larger post reporting that his supposed killer has been arrested.

Reporter Benjamin Harvey of the Associated Press also notes that Dink’s secretary had also identified the young man in the photograph as the same person who had requested a meeting with Dink the day he was killed. The man said he was a student at Ankara University. The request was refused, and the secretary said she saw him waiting in front of a bank about an hour before Dink was killed.

[…]

It would be interesting to find out if this teen acted alone or had ties to a group. I doubt we will ever know the authentic truth.

It’s been a very difficult news event for me to follow and reflect upon. From what I can gather, this man was very much loved and respected by not only community ethnic Armenians but by the activist/progressive Turkish community.

The most significant memory I have of Dink was in last years American-PBS documentary film on the Armenian Genocide where I think Dink describes Turks as being a very a beautiful people. I may be wrong with my recollection of what he specifically stated, but his intentions gave me impression that he was a unifier and not a divider. It is important to remember what Hrant Dink stood for, what he fought for and what he achieved for Turkey her Armenian community.

Also at Blogrel, Harmick writes an interesting and thought-provoking post on reaction to the murder of a man who first and foremost stood for reconciliation and peace between Armenian, Turk and Kurd alike.

I have been following the developments on the assassination of Hrant Dink over the past hours. I am both surprised and proud that so many people came out and showed their support for this man. I must confess that I only really familiarised myself with his work just a couple of days ago, as part of research for a University project I’m doing on Armenian Genocide - however, his dedication and inspiration did impress me.

[…]

Whilst this is a tragedy, and a great, great loss. I wonder if there are some people who may seek to use this event as both publicity for the Armenian Genocide ( lets face it, it has been on major news screens today) , and also a chance to insult Turkey. I worry that statements like that of Tigran Torosyan do nothing but agitate an already tense situation. It is naieve to consider that the assassination of Hrant Dink should make Turkey not “even dream” of European Union entry. It is also a bad reflection on the Armenian official position - and I am waiting to hear a comment that suggests this is some kind of Armenian perpertration. It is really time for our Armenian politicians to think carefully about the way they react to this murder.

Anyway, much more to write, but it’s late now.

However, I will mention the two vigils held today in Yerevan to honor the memory of Hrant Dink. The first was held outside the building that houses the European Union’s Delegation to Armenia and seemed to be attended by two dozen young members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation — Dashnaktsutiun (ARF-D). The second was attended by three or four times as many people outside the Moscow Cinema a few hours later.

It’s Saturday so there’s not much to expect in terms of news on the events, but PanArmenian.net did at least post something earlier in the day although I’m not quite sure why Richard Giragosian’s name is mentioned, but anyway. I did receive an email from him as well, but I figured he was just passing on something sent onto him from others. Still, who knows?

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Tonight at 19:30 PM there will be a candlelight vigil to mark the death of Hrant Dink, the gathering will be held at Charles Aznavur Square across from Moscow cinema, told member of initiative group, AIPRG (Armenian International Policy Research Group) expert Richard Giragosian the PanARMENIAN.Net correspondent. “Please come with candles and bring your friends,” said R. Giragosian.

Anyway, regardless, I’ve posted some photos from that first event above and below, but until I post those taken later at the second event, I’ll instead point you all towards Arsineh’s post at Cilicia.com’s Life in Armenia where she’s posted those which she took. Incidentally, my impression is that Arsineh was one of the organizers of the second event, but she can correct me in the comments section if that’s wrong.

Approximately 100 Armenians from Armenia and the Diaspora gathered together at Aznavour Square in downtown Yerevan to mourn the death of Hrant Dink and express their outrage towards the tragedy.

Well, I have to admit that it was kind of ironic to consider that just a tiny number of Armenians turned out in Yerevan to remember Dink compared to the thousands that took to the streets in Istanbul, but perhaps that’s not surprising. As I’ve said before on this blog, the murder of Hrant Dink has ramifications for the the whole of Turkish society, and any killing such as this would be shocking for most normal decent people, I think.

However, whether this tragedy will actually result in any change inside Turkey is anybody’s guess. Journalists, including those working for minority newspapers, have been murdered before in Turkey with protests staged only to be followed by more killings, so this is nothing new. With the world watching more attentively this time, however, will Turkish society now wake up and come to terms with its own past as well as the problems of its present?

To be honest, I simply don’t know. Instead, I can only hope that it will.

Hrant Dink Vigil, European Union Delegation Office, Yerevan, Republic of Armenia © Onnik Krikorian / Oneworld Multimedia 2007