THE LONG SHADOW
The prominent journalist and voice of Turkey's dwindling Armenian minority, Hrant Dink, was shot dead on Jan. 19 as he left his office in Istanbul. Dink was editor of Agos, the sole Armenian newspaper in Turkey. He had been prosecuted because of his call for recognition of Ottoman Turkey's 1915 massacre of 1.5 million of its ethnic Armenian citizens -- a crime against humanity that the Canadian House of Commons formally acknowledged in April, 2004. His murder starkly demonstrates how Turkish denial of this abomination, the first genocide of the 20th century, amounts to continuing violence against multi-ethnic democracy and pluralism. It is a painful reminder that without redemption for past injustices, the ghosts of history will cast a long shadow on Turkey's future.
Mr. Dink was convicted in October, 2005, of the crime of "insulting Turkishness" under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. In being branded as a criminal for calling attention to the 1915 genocide, he joined the ranks of prominent fellow ethnic Turkish citizens, including the famous novelist Orhan Pamuk, recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature, the renowned intellectual Murat Belge, who organized a conference on the Armenian genocide in 2005, and the courageous historian Taner Akcam, author of A Shameful Act which details Turkish responsibility for the events of 1915. These eminent Turks would argue that the greatest insult to "Turkishness" is the continuing denial of this historical tragedy, which brutally ripped Turkey's multiethnic fibre apart, and that the greatest disgrace is the appeasement of ethnic chauvinists who seek to destroy its modest but precious remnants. The truth that Mr. Dink and his fellow citizens upheld transcends ties of blood and soil. This was poignantly expressed at the candlelight vigil after his murder, where hundreds of Turks held signs reading: "We are all Hrant Dink. We are all Armenians."
The Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Erdogan, condemned Mr. Dink's murder as a "bullet aimed at free speech." But so long as Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code criminalizes "insulting Turkishness," these remain empty words. Limitations on freedom of speech should apply to hate speech, not to speech against hate. Recognition of past injustice promotes mutual respect and redeems a shared humanity. But its denial sows the seeds of hatred, by perpetuating both the dehumanization of its victims and the moral depravity of its perpetrators. In a world where Holocaust denial is a crime, state-sanctioned denial of genocide is all the more reproachable. It is telling that when the House of Commons recognized the Armenian genocide in 2004, Turkey condemned "narrow minded Canadian politicians" who failed to understand that their decision "will awaken feelings of hatred among people of different [ethnic] roots and disturb social harmony." The murder of Mr. Dink should leave no doubt that social harmony is not achieved through appeasement of ethnic chauvinists.
Mr. Dink's last op-ed, written on Jan. 10, a few days prior to his murder, is a testament to his nobility and heroism. He speaks of death threats against him, but he fears for his family and not for himself. And despite his ordeal, he speaks of his abiding commitment to Turkey and its people: "There were moments when I seriously thought about leaving the country and moving far away. And especially when the threats started to involve those close to me." But to stay in Turkey "was necessary because we truly desired it and [had to do so] out of respect to the thousands of friends in Turkey [who] struggled for democracy and who supported us. We were going to stay and we were going to resist." In an allusion to the recurring trauma of collective destruction and exile, he reveals how strongly he was clinging to his beloved home: "If we were forced to leave one day, however ? We were going to set out just as in 1915 ? Like our ancestors ?Without knowing where we were going ? Walking the roads they walked through ? Feeling the ordeal, experiencing the pain ? With such a reproach we were going to leave our homeland. And we would go where our feet took us, but not our hearts." It is in light of this vivid memory of 1915 that the magnitude of his murder becomes apparent, almost as if those unspeakable events have continued unabated to the present day.
In his last days, Mr. Dink wrote that he felt the "unease of a pigeon" that must constantly live in fear of being preyed upon. But in an expression of unfailing hope and trust in his fellow Turkish citizens, he remained confident that "in this country people do not touch pigeons. Pigeons live their lives all the way deep into the city, even amidst the human throngs. Yes, somewhat apprehensive but just as much free." Yet, it was in the busy streets of Istanbul, amidst the human throngs, that he was shot to death. At least if this shocking betrayal awakens the Turkish people to the paramount necessity of atonement for the past, Mr. Dink's confidence in his fellow citizens may still be vindicated, and the restless ghosts of Ottoman times may finally repose in their sepulchers.
- Payam Akhavan is a professor of International Law at McGill University in Montreal and a former UN war crimes prosecutor at The Hague.
- Payam Akhavan, National Post, Monday, January 22, 2007
HRANT DINK BECOMES 1,500,001 VICTIM OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Hrant Dink became the 1,500,001st victim of the Armenian genocide yesterday. An educated and generous journalist and academic - editor of the weekly Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos - he tried to create ...ST. ETCHMIADZIN OFFERS REQUIEM SERVICE FOR HRANT DINK
On Sunday, January 21, a solemn Repose of Souls service was offered in memory of slain journalist and human rights advocate Hrant Dink in the Mother Cathedral of Holy Etchmiadzin by His Holiness Karekin ...CATHOLICOS KAREKIN II CONDEMNS THE MURDER OF HRANT DINK
His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, sent a letter today to His Beatitude Archbishop Mesrob Mutafian, Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, on the tragic assassination ...MESROP MUTAFIAN, PATRIARCH OF ISTANBUL AND ALL TURKEY, CONDEMNS MURDER OF HRANT DINK
Patriarch of Istanbul and All Turkey Mesrop Mutafian expressed his indignation at the Jan 21 article of Tercuman newspaper (Turkey) alleging that the murderer of Hrant Dink Ogun Samast is of Armenian ...INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CONDEMNS MURDER OF HRANT DINK
The current EU Presidency held by Germany expressed its "shock" over the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink in Istanbul Friday. "Hrant Dink was a courageous man whose ...TURKISH POLICE ARRESTS KILLER OF HRANT DINK
Yesterday, the Turkish authorities announced that they arrested the killer of Agos newspaper's Editor Hrant Dink. According to the Turkish Mass Media, it was a 17-years-old student of a Lyceum, Ogiun ...THE LONG SHADOW
Payam Akhavan, National Post, Monday, January 22, 2007The prominent journalist and voice of Turkey's dwindling Armenian minority, Hrant Dink, was shot dead on Jan. 19 as he left his office in Istanbul. Dink was editor of Agos, the sole Armenian newspaper ...FOR HRANT
by YAVUZ BAYDAR, http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/yazar.do?haberno=100535My grief is very, very deep. I have lost a wonderful friend and a courageous colleague. Could we see it coming? I remember an evening, months ago, in a restaurant. The infamous Pamuk trial had ended ...ARMENIA HOPES BREAKTHROUGH TO BE FIXED IN NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT PROCESS IN 2007
RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian is going to leave for Russia's capital city Moscow, today. He is to meet with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mamedyarov and discuss the Nagorno Karabakh conflict ...AZERI SNIPER KILLS ARMENIAN SOLDIER
RA Defense Ministry informed that an Azerbaijani sniper fatally wounded an Armenian serviceman today in the morning at a position on Armenian-Azerbaijani border near the town of Berd. The source stated ...ANOTHER ARMENIAN TEENAGER MURDERED IN MOSCOW
Artur Martirosian, 16 years old teen-ager, was killed in Moscow. According to the Russian Mass Media, his body with traces of knife wounds was found at the house 45 in Kastanayevskaya Street. The Russian ...GORAN LENMARKER TO VISIT ARMENIAN ON FEBRUARY 4-6
The chairman of OSCE Parliament Assembly, a reporter for Nagorno Karabakh, Goran Lenmarker, will pay a working visit to Armenia on February 4-6. According to the press service of RA National Assembly, ...INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC FORUM TO BE HELD IN ARMENIA
Another international economic forum will be held in the resort city of Tsaghkadzor, Armenia, on February 16-19. The Center of International Integration Support, the Armenian Ministry of Trade and Economic ...
SCHIFF CONDEMNS THE MURDER OF JOURNALIST, HRANT DINK, IN TURKEY AND MOURNS HIS LOSS
Sean Oblack, Press Secretary, Congressman Adam Schiff (CA-29), 202-226-8348 direct, 202-225-3278 cellOSCE REPRESENTATIVE APPALLED BY MURDER OF TURKISH JOURNALIST HRANT DINK
EUROPEAN GREEN CARD RESEMBLING AMERICAN ONE LIKELY TO BE ISSUED SOON
By Aghavni Haroutiunian97% OF ARMENIAN AMERICANS OPPOSE HOAGLAND NOMINATION
MESROP MUTAFIAN, PATRIARCH OF ISTANBUL AND ALL TURKEY, CONDEMNS MURDER OF HRANT DINK
GERMANY DEMANDS PUNISHMENT FOR RECOGNITION OF HOLOCAUST
By Nana PetrosianINTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CONDEMNS MURDER OF HRANT DINK
ARMENIA HOPES BREAKTHROUGH TO BE FIXED IN NAGORNO KARABAKH CONFLICT SETTLEMENT PROCESS IN 2007
GERMAN COMMUNISTS PROTEST AGAINST DENYING ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
By Aghavni HaroutiunianHAIGAZIAN UNIVERSITY RECEIVES A DELEGATION FROM THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (USA)
By Mira Yardemian,Public relations Director
- 1861 Birth of the Hungarian-Armenian linguist and philologist, Ghookass Badroopanyan.
- 1904 Birth of the Armenian-Italian physician, Professor, Michael Arlen, son of the famous doctor Yervand Arlen. Michael Arlen was a Full Member of the British Medical Association.
- 1921 The ceremonial opening of Yerevan's People's University. In 1923 it was renamed Yerevan State University.
- 1923 Birth of Karp Khachvankyan (actor) in Akhaltskha (Georgia). He was known as the "Prince of Laughter". He died in 1998.
- Դավադրություն Հայաստանի Դեմ
- Անկախության 20-ամյակ
- Մեր սիրելի երգերը
- Հանապազօրյա Նավթը և Հայաստանի Աշխարհաքաղաքական Դիրքը
- Armenians and 2011 OSCAR
- Turks and Germans: Partners in Crime and Allies in Court
- Վերջ ապագիտական դեզինֆորմացիային
- Իսկ ե՞րբ մենք պիտի ունենանք մե՛ր Վրեժի Կտակարանը
- 2011 թվականը
- L’ARMENIE OCCIDENTALE ET LE DROIT INTERNATIONAL, AUJOURD’HUI !
ARMENIAN NEWS
INTERACTIVE NEWS
INFORMATION
MY ARMTOWN
How to quit smoking?
How to write in Armenian on Windows XP?
All materials published on this website are taken from open sources and are copyrighted by their respective owners. You cannot reproduce or copy any materials published on armtown.com without written consent of original copyright holder. If you want to remove any material, please send us an email with proof of ownership/copyright and your material will be removed immediately. All materials published for information purposes only.