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Mourners remember slain Armenian-Turkish journalist
By BENJAMIN HARVEY, Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
January 23, 2007 Tuesday 4:13 PM GMT
More than 100,000 mourners marched Tuesday in a funeral for a slain
ethnic Armenian journalist who had angered Turkish nationalists an
extraordinary outpouring of support for freedom of expression and
reconciliation.
Hrant Dink was gunned down outside his newspaper, Agos, on Friday. He
had been outspoken in labeling the mass killings of Armenians in the
last days of the Ottoman Empire as genocide.
Amid the grieving, there were signs his funeral might become a
catalyst for easing the antagonism between Turks and the dwindling
ethnic Armenian minority.
The crowds marched along a five-mile route from Agos to an Armenian
Orthodox church in one of the biggest funerals ever held in the city.
They carried placards that read, "We are all Armenians" in Turkish
and Armenian.
Onlookers filled bridges and streets, and the center of Istanbul was
shut down.
Despite a request from his family not to turn the funeral into
a protest, mourners raised their fists and shouted: "Shoulder to
shoulder against fascism!" and "Murderer 301!" a reference to the
freedom-curbing Turkish law that was used to prosecute Dink and others
on charges of insulting "Turkishness."
Among those brought to court over Article 301 was Orhan Pamuk, who
won the Nobel Prize in literature last year. Such prosecutions have
alarmed the European Union, which is considering Turkey's bid to join
the bloc, but until Tuesday there were few mass rallies in favor of
freedom of speech in Turkey itself.
The liberal outpouring, if it gains momentum, could have significant
implications for democratic movements in the Islamic world, where
demonstrations against terrorism and other violence have been muted.
Dink, 52, sought to encourage reconciliation between Turkey and
Armenia. But he chose a dangerous path by making public statements
about the mass killings of Armenians by Turks in the early 20th
century, which remains one of the nation's most divisive issues.
On several occasions, Dink expressed his view that the killings
amounted to genocide. Such statements enrage nationalists who
vehemently insist there was bloodshed on both sides during the
tumultuous collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The remarks also landed
him in court and prompted death threats.
Police are questioning seven suspects, including a teenager, Ogun
Samast, who authorities say has confessed to shooting Dink, and Yasin
Hayal, a nationalist militant convicted in a 2004 bomb attack at a
McDonald's restaurant. Hayal has confessed to inciting the slaying
and providing a gun and money to the teenager, police said.
"I had no intention of insulting Turkishness," Dink told The Associated
Press in a telephone interview months before his death.
"My only concern is to improve Armenian and Turkish relations."
He seemed to have achieved that to a certain extent in his death:
Turkey has no diplomatic ties with Armenia but invited Armenian
officials and religious leaders to the funeral as well as moderate
members of the diaspora.
Armenia sent Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosian. The Armenian
Orthodox Church sent U.S.-based Bishop Khazkah Parsamian. Church
leaders from Romania and Bulgaria also attended.
"Hrant Dink was a great advocate in the country for freedom of speech
and for reconciliation, in particular between Armenians and Turks,"
said Ross Wilson, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, on the sidelines
of the funeral procession. "Judging by what you see on the streets,
he did bring the people together."
Dink's wife, Rakel, called for a deeper search for answers to the
killing.
"Seventeen or 27, whoever he was, the murderer was once a baby,"
she told mourners. "Unless we can question the darkness that turned
this baby into a murderer, we cannot achieve anything."
In a service attended by Armenians and Turks, Armenian Patriarch
Mesrob II called for expanded freedom of speech.
"It is unacceptable to judge and imprison someone because of his
thoughts, let alone to kill him," Mesrob said, weeping during his
eulogy.
"It is mystical that his funeral turned into an occasion where Armenian
and Turkish officials gathered together," Mesrob said.
Dink was buried in Istanbul's Armenian graveyard, where priests
chanted and people applauded as his portrait was displayed and white
doves were released.
"It was an attack against all of us," said Oya Basaran, 52, a school
principal. "We want to give the message to the world that the killing
does not represent us."
Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser and Selcan Hacaoglu in Ankara
contributed to this report.
By BENJAMIN HARVEY, Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
January 23, 2007 Tuesday 4:13 PM GMT
More than 100,000 mourners marched Tuesday in a funeral for a slain
ethnic Armenian journalist who had angered Turkish nationalists an
extraordinary outpouring of support for freedom of expression and
reconciliation.
Hrant Dink was gunned down outside his newspaper, Agos, on Friday. He
had been outspoken in labeling the mass killings of Armenians in the
last days of the Ottoman Empire as genocide.
Amid the grieving, there were signs his funeral might become a
catalyst for easing the antagonism between Turks and the dwindling
ethnic Armenian minority.
The crowds marched along a five-mile route from Agos to an Armenian
Orthodox church in one of the biggest funerals ever held in the city.
They carried placards that read, "We are all Armenians" in Turkish
and Armenian.
Onlookers filled bridges and streets, and the center of Istanbul was
shut down.
Despite a request from his family not to turn the funeral into
a protest, mourners raised their fists and shouted: "Shoulder to
shoulder against fascism!" and "Murderer 301!" a reference to the
freedom-curbing Turkish law that was used to prosecute Dink and others
on charges of insulting "Turkishness."
Among those brought to court over Article 301 was Orhan Pamuk, who
won the Nobel Prize in literature last year. Such prosecutions have
alarmed the European Union, which is considering Turkey's bid to join
the bloc, but until Tuesday there were few mass rallies in favor of
freedom of speech in Turkey itself.
The liberal outpouring, if it gains momentum, could have significant
implications for democratic movements in the Islamic world, where
demonstrations against terrorism and other violence have been muted.
Dink, 52, sought to encourage reconciliation between Turkey and
Armenia. But he chose a dangerous path by making public statements
about the mass killings of Armenians by Turks in the early 20th
century, which remains one of the nation's most divisive issues.
On several occasions, Dink expressed his view that the killings
amounted to genocide. Such statements enrage nationalists who
vehemently insist there was bloodshed on both sides during the
tumultuous collapse of the Ottoman Empire. The remarks also landed
him in court and prompted death threats.
Police are questioning seven suspects, including a teenager, Ogun
Samast, who authorities say has confessed to shooting Dink, and Yasin
Hayal, a nationalist militant convicted in a 2004 bomb attack at a
McDonald's restaurant. Hayal has confessed to inciting the slaying
and providing a gun and money to the teenager, police said.
"I had no intention of insulting Turkishness," Dink told The Associated
Press in a telephone interview months before his death.
"My only concern is to improve Armenian and Turkish relations."
He seemed to have achieved that to a certain extent in his death:
Turkey has no diplomatic ties with Armenia but invited Armenian
officials and religious leaders to the funeral as well as moderate
members of the diaspora.
Armenia sent Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosian. The Armenian
Orthodox Church sent U.S.-based Bishop Khazkah Parsamian. Church
leaders from Romania and Bulgaria also attended.
"Hrant Dink was a great advocate in the country for freedom of speech
and for reconciliation, in particular between Armenians and Turks,"
said Ross Wilson, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, on the sidelines
of the funeral procession. "Judging by what you see on the streets,
he did bring the people together."
Dink's wife, Rakel, called for a deeper search for answers to the
killing.
"Seventeen or 27, whoever he was, the murderer was once a baby,"
she told mourners. "Unless we can question the darkness that turned
this baby into a murderer, we cannot achieve anything."
In a service attended by Armenians and Turks, Armenian Patriarch
Mesrob II called for expanded freedom of speech.
"It is unacceptable to judge and imprison someone because of his
thoughts, let alone to kill him," Mesrob said, weeping during his
eulogy.
"It is mystical that his funeral turned into an occasion where Armenian
and Turkish officials gathered together," Mesrob said.
Dink was buried in Istanbul's Armenian graveyard, where priests
chanted and people applauded as his portrait was displayed and white
doves were released.
"It was an attack against all of us," said Oya Basaran, 52, a school
principal. "We want to give the message to the world that the killing
does not represent us."
Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser and Selcan Hacaoglu in Ankara
contributed to this report.