Hrant Dink: World Press Freedom Hero
RFE/RL carries a report by AFP that Hrant Dink, the ethnic Armenian editor of the Agos newspaper in Turkey who was murdered in Istanbul, Turkey, earlier this year has been named as one of its World Press Freedom Heroes by the International Press Institute.
“Hrant Dink’s nomination as our 52nd World Press Freedom Hero is a tribute to his bravery, but also an acknowledgement of his significant contribution to freedom of expression and press freedom in Turkey,” IPI Director Johann P. Fritz said.
Dink, a well-known Turkish-Armenian editor and columnist, was murdered in Istanbul on 19 January 2007. He had received numerous death threats from Turkish nationalists who viewed his journalism as treacherous.
Dink was shot twice in the head and once in the neck by a Turkish nationalist outside the offices of the newspaper he founded in 1996. He had faced legal problems for denigrating “Turkishness” under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code in his articles about the massacre of Armenians during the First World War. In July 2006, he lost an appeal over a suspended six-month prison sentence handed down for violating Article 301. His prosecution stemmed from an article in 2004 about the 1915-17 massacres of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire. Aside from this criminal case, Dink was also facing prosecution for a second article condemning his conviction.
Born on 15 September 1954, Dink was best-known for reporting on human and minority rights in Turkey and for advocating Turkish-Armenian reconciliation. In a February 2006 interview, he said he hoped his reporting would pave the way for peace between the two peoples. “I want to write and ask how we can change this historical conflict into peace,” he said.
[…]
The IPI award was formally handed over to his widow, Rakel Dink, on 10 December in Vienna. “The murder of Hrant Dink deprived Turkey of one of its most courageous and independent voices and it was a terrible event for Turkish press freedom in general,” Fritz said. “Hrant Dink is one of at least 91 journalists murdered so far in 2007. In most cases, these murders occurred with impunity. We call on governments around the world to ensure that those responsible for these heinous crimes are brought to justice.”
The best choice they made this year.
regards
Comment by Hans — December 12, 2007 @ 10:54 am
An “ethnic” Armenian? A very demeaning choice of words. You wouldn’t say ethnic French, Italian or English….would you? Otherwise, quite well done>
Comment by Chello — December 12, 2007 @ 2:32 pm
Actually, not demeaning at all. In terms of citizenship and nationality as we know it in the West, Dink should be instead called a Turkish journalist and editor.
So, just as Armenians in the U.S. like to be called Armenian-Americans, American-Armenians, American citizens of Armenian descent, I am using the standard way of talking about naturally born citizens but identifying their ethnicity especially when it has some relevance to the story.
Basically, yes, you do refer to someone’s ethnicity in such stories. Everyone in England as far as I am concerned has the right to call themselves British, but ethnicity in multicultural societies is also another issue very important. The U.S. is a perfect example of this, as I’ve detailed above.
Certainly, to call Dink an Armenian editor, in my opinion, is wrong, because the whole point is that he should be considered an equal citizen of the Republic of Turkey. That he wasn’t by some [Turkish] nationalists is the other side of the coin, especially for Kurds in the past who were unable to express the ethnic aspect of their identity.
Of course, you’re free to do a Google search for “ethnic armenian hrant dink” and take up the matter also with everyone from Cilicia.com to The Independent and The New York Times if you really want.
Anyway, Turkish-Armenian journalist, Turkish journalist, Turkish journalist of Armenian descent, or ethnic Armenian journalist in Turkey, I’d say Dink deserves the title although I’d personally wish he had gotten it when he was alive. Also, of course, that he was still alive, but anyway.
Comment by Onnik — December 12, 2007 @ 3:06 pm
Chello, from my stats it looks as though you’re working at Hetq. I didn’t know.
Comment by Onnik — December 12, 2007 @ 6:50 pm