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Editorial: We Are All Hrant
Watertown TAB & Press
Watertown, Mass.
Feb. 1, 2007
http://www.townonline.com/watertown/opinion/8 998961924330749951
Last Friday, people packed St. James Armenian Church to mourn Hrant
Dink, the recently murdered editor of a community newspaper in
Istanbul.
On Jan. 19, a young man shot Dink several times in the back of the
head outside Dink's Istanbul office. The suspect, a teenage Turkish
nationalist, was later apprehended and arrested for the assassination.
Dink had for months been receiving death threats from right-wingers in
Turkey. Dink was convicted of `insulting Turkishness' underthat
country's shameful Article 301. The law forbids deviation from the
Turkish government's claim that it did not perpetrate genocide against
the Armenian people during the First World War. More than a million
ethnic Armenians died in what was without doubt a program by the
Turkish government to eradicate Armenians. Hitler publicly admired
Turkey's methods.
Watertown has deep ties to Armenia, as it has become a prime location
for the Armenian diaspora. Eight percent of Watertown residents told
the most recent Census that they are of Armenian heritage. That makes
Armenian heritage the third most widely held ancestry in town behind
only Irish and English.
Unsurprisingly, many local people knew Dink. Eric Ozcan, a Watertown
businessman and close friend of Dink's, attended the vigil at
St. James. He was one of many others who have expressed their concern
over Dink's safety and security in recent years because of his
`outspokenness and courageous honesty' in the face of a strict Turkish
policy against questioning the government's line on the deaths.
Ozcan, also from Turkey, said he had developed a close bond with Dink
during their years at an ethnic Armenian boarding school, and remained
a friend with him throughout the years.
`Hrant always spoke his mind, even as a schoolboy,' Ozcan told the TAB
& Press. `He did not tolerate unfairness of any kind, even against
children in the schoolyard. Hrant was very idealistic, but did not
worry about the consequences. He was a great human being who embodied
the ideals of freedomof speech and equality.'
One glimmer of hope comes from the unprecedented international outrage
and expressions of sympathy. On Jan. 23, more than 100,000 people in
Turkey joined Dink's funeral procession, according to Watertown's
ArmeniaTree Project. As they marched through the streets of Istanbul
carrying signs that read `We are all Hrant,' they chanted `We are all
Hrant, we are allArmenian.'
The Armenia Tree Project plans to plant a forest in honor of Dink. For
more information or to support the forest, visit _ArmeniaTree.org_
(http://armeniatree.org/) . For more information about Dink, visit
_hrantdink.org_
(http://hrantdink.org/) .
Watertown TAB & Press
Watertown, Mass.
Feb. 1, 2007
http://www.townonline.com/watertown/opinion/8 998961924330749951
Last Friday, people packed St. James Armenian Church to mourn Hrant
Dink, the recently murdered editor of a community newspaper in
Istanbul.
On Jan. 19, a young man shot Dink several times in the back of the
head outside Dink's Istanbul office. The suspect, a teenage Turkish
nationalist, was later apprehended and arrested for the assassination.
Dink had for months been receiving death threats from right-wingers in
Turkey. Dink was convicted of `insulting Turkishness' underthat
country's shameful Article 301. The law forbids deviation from the
Turkish government's claim that it did not perpetrate genocide against
the Armenian people during the First World War. More than a million
ethnic Armenians died in what was without doubt a program by the
Turkish government to eradicate Armenians. Hitler publicly admired
Turkey's methods.
Watertown has deep ties to Armenia, as it has become a prime location
for the Armenian diaspora. Eight percent of Watertown residents told
the most recent Census that they are of Armenian heritage. That makes
Armenian heritage the third most widely held ancestry in town behind
only Irish and English.
Unsurprisingly, many local people knew Dink. Eric Ozcan, a Watertown
businessman and close friend of Dink's, attended the vigil at
St. James. He was one of many others who have expressed their concern
over Dink's safety and security in recent years because of his
`outspokenness and courageous honesty' in the face of a strict Turkish
policy against questioning the government's line on the deaths.
Ozcan, also from Turkey, said he had developed a close bond with Dink
during their years at an ethnic Armenian boarding school, and remained
a friend with him throughout the years.
`Hrant always spoke his mind, even as a schoolboy,' Ozcan told the TAB
& Press. `He did not tolerate unfairness of any kind, even against
children in the schoolyard. Hrant was very idealistic, but did not
worry about the consequences. He was a great human being who embodied
the ideals of freedomof speech and equality.'
One glimmer of hope comes from the unprecedented international outrage
and expressions of sympathy. On Jan. 23, more than 100,000 people in
Turkey joined Dink's funeral procession, according to Watertown's
ArmeniaTree Project. As they marched through the streets of Istanbul
carrying signs that read `We are all Hrant,' they chanted `We are all
Hrant, we are allArmenian.'
The Armenia Tree Project plans to plant a forest in honor of Dink. For
more information or to support the forest, visit _ArmeniaTree.org_
(http://armeniatree.org/) . For more information about Dink, visit
_hrantdink.org_
(http://hrantdink.org/) .