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Yeni Safak, Turkey
Jan 20 2007
Islamist columnist says Dink murder aimed at "destabilizing Turkey"
Political assassinations are the favourite method of those who want
to throw Turkey into chaos and destabilize it. We lost many of our
intellectuals in political assassinations at every critical turning
point. Yesterday it was Hrant Dink's turn.
The plotters of assassinations aimed at destabilizing the country are
adept at their job. If you were to ask a computer into which you have
entered all sorts of relevant intelligence and identity data who the
most appropriate target for an assassination aimed at creating chaos
would be, Hrant Dink would definitely be included on the list of a
few names. Hrant was a journalist and a member of a minority
community. However, he was an important person quite regardless of
his identity as an Armenian and a journalist. He made efforts as a
citizen of the Republic of Turkey to democratize Turkey, make it a
free country, and remove the obstacles facing it. Those who targeted
him not only ended his physical existence but also intended to damage
the democratization process to which Dink contributed.
A priest was killed in Trabzon about a year ago. After that, an armed
attack on the Council of State was carried out and a number of judges
were shot. The assassination of Hrant Dink appears to be a
continuation of the earlier incidents.
[As the proverb goes,] An ember burns where it falls [used to express
awareness of the pains of the close relatives of someone who has
died]. Hrant Dink's death has a painful effect on every one of us in
varying degrees starting from those closest to him. Even though I did
not meet and talk with him often, Hrant was a friend whose presence I
regarded as an enriching factor for my country as well as for myself.
For this reason, I am deeply saddened.
It would not be quite rational to try to understand the meaning of
the assassination by concentrating on the fact that Dink was a
journalist who was a member of a minority group. Hrant Dink had
become the subject of a series of judicial investigations and
convictions lately that served to bring him to the fore. There were
probably those who were annoyed by him and held demonstrations to
express their annoyance. A link could be established between the
assassination and the fact that he was prosecuted for "insulting
Turkishness." There are actually those establishing such connections
and linking the assassination to a nationalist escalation.
The assassination actually appears to have been intended to make us
think that way. Even though the identity of the perpetrator or
perpetrators could bring these thoughts to our minds, we would do
well to try to understand the motives by looking at the assassination
from a wider perspective.
We could think that the target of the assassination was Turkey. Those
who planned the attack appear to have intended to damage Turkey's
stability and darken what everybody could already see would be a
brighter future for this country. Steps are being taken to open the
clogged veins of democracy in Turkey and our country is turning into
a regional power whose word carries weight. Even the initial
sentiments caused by the assassination indicate a vulnerability where
this favourable course of developments could be blocked any time.
Unfortunately this is the case.
The first statement that Prime Minister Erdogan issued on behalf of
the Government shows that the political authority has made a correct
diagnosis of the incident. As in the case of the priest murder and
the raid on the Council of State, it is the Government that has been
placed in the most difficult position by the Hrant Dink
assassination.
Hrant Dink's loss is a loss for every one of us. Above all, it is
Turkey's loss.
Jan 20 2007
Islamist columnist says Dink murder aimed at "destabilizing Turkey"
Political assassinations are the favourite method of those who want
to throw Turkey into chaos and destabilize it. We lost many of our
intellectuals in political assassinations at every critical turning
point. Yesterday it was Hrant Dink's turn.
The plotters of assassinations aimed at destabilizing the country are
adept at their job. If you were to ask a computer into which you have
entered all sorts of relevant intelligence and identity data who the
most appropriate target for an assassination aimed at creating chaos
would be, Hrant Dink would definitely be included on the list of a
few names. Hrant was a journalist and a member of a minority
community. However, he was an important person quite regardless of
his identity as an Armenian and a journalist. He made efforts as a
citizen of the Republic of Turkey to democratize Turkey, make it a
free country, and remove the obstacles facing it. Those who targeted
him not only ended his physical existence but also intended to damage
the democratization process to which Dink contributed.
A priest was killed in Trabzon about a year ago. After that, an armed
attack on the Council of State was carried out and a number of judges
were shot. The assassination of Hrant Dink appears to be a
continuation of the earlier incidents.
[As the proverb goes,] An ember burns where it falls [used to express
awareness of the pains of the close relatives of someone who has
died]. Hrant Dink's death has a painful effect on every one of us in
varying degrees starting from those closest to him. Even though I did
not meet and talk with him often, Hrant was a friend whose presence I
regarded as an enriching factor for my country as well as for myself.
For this reason, I am deeply saddened.
It would not be quite rational to try to understand the meaning of
the assassination by concentrating on the fact that Dink was a
journalist who was a member of a minority group. Hrant Dink had
become the subject of a series of judicial investigations and
convictions lately that served to bring him to the fore. There were
probably those who were annoyed by him and held demonstrations to
express their annoyance. A link could be established between the
assassination and the fact that he was prosecuted for "insulting
Turkishness." There are actually those establishing such connections
and linking the assassination to a nationalist escalation.
The assassination actually appears to have been intended to make us
think that way. Even though the identity of the perpetrator or
perpetrators could bring these thoughts to our minds, we would do
well to try to understand the motives by looking at the assassination
from a wider perspective.
We could think that the target of the assassination was Turkey. Those
who planned the attack appear to have intended to damage Turkey's
stability and darken what everybody could already see would be a
brighter future for this country. Steps are being taken to open the
clogged veins of democracy in Turkey and our country is turning into
a regional power whose word carries weight. Even the initial
sentiments caused by the assassination indicate a vulnerability where
this favourable course of developments could be blocked any time.
Unfortunately this is the case.
The first statement that Prime Minister Erdogan issued on behalf of
the Government shows that the political authority has made a correct
diagnosis of the incident. As in the case of the priest murder and
the raid on the Council of State, it is the Government that has been
placed in the most difficult position by the Hrant Dink
assassination.
Hrant Dink's loss is a loss for every one of us. Above all, it is
Turkey's loss.