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TURKEY: Journalist's funeral draws huge crowd
Taipei Times
Jan 25 2007
The funeral of murdered Turkish journalist Hrant Dink brought over
100,000 Turks and Armenians together to grieve and denounce extremism
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Istanbul --- More than 100,000 people marched in a funeral procession
on Tuesday for a slain ethnic Armenian journalist who had angered
Turkish nationalists, suggesting that the grieving for Hrant Dink
may become a catalyst for liberal values and overcoming a century of
antagonism between Turks and Armenians.
"We are all Armenians" chanted mourners in an extraordinary outpouring
of affection for a journalist who had made enemies by calling the mass
killings of Armenians toward the end of the Ottoman Empire genocide.
Dink was gunned down outside his newspaper Agos in broad daylight
on Friday.
The murder triggered a period of intense introspection and touched off
debate about excessive nationalism, free expression and the ability
of Turks of different ethnic backgrounds to live together.
Throngs of mourners marched along the 8km route from the offices of
Agos to an Armenian Orthodox church -- virtually shutting down the
center of this massive city.
Many participants carried placards that read: "We are all Hrant Dinks."
Marchers took time off from work and school to join the procession,
and thousands leaned out of their office windows to applaud, weep
and throw flowers as the black hearse carrying Dink's body passed by.
Despite a request from his family not to turn the funeral into a
protest, many also raised their fists at times shouting: "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."
The 52-year-old journalist's daughter, Sera, carrying a framed portrait
of her father, wept as she walked in front of the coffin.
Dink, the editor of the bilingual Armenian-Turkish newspaper, 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 --
remarks that landed him in court and prompted death threats.
Comments on that tumultuous period of Turkish history have landed
several of the country's most famous thinkers in court.
Police were questioning seven suspects, including a teenager, Ogun
Samast, who authorities said 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, according to police.
The suspects also include a university student who allegedly "inspired"
the attack, Hurriyet newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Dink, one of the most important voices in Turkey's ethnic Armenian
community, insisted he wanted reconciliation between the two peoples.
"I had no intention of insulting Turkishness," he said 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 still invited Armenian
officials and religious leaders as well as moderate members of the
diaspora to the funeral. Armenia sent Deputy Foreign Minister Arman
Kirakosian.
The Armenian Orthodox Church sent US-based Bishop Khazkah Parsamian.
In an emotional speech to the crowd in front of the Agos office, 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 said.
"Unless we can question the darkness that turned this baby into a
murderer, we cannot achieve anything."
In a religious service attended by Armenians and Turks -- including
Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin and Interior Minister Abdulkadir
Aksu -- Armenian Patriarch Mesrob II called for expanded freedoms of
speech and along with more dialogue between Turks and Armenians.
"It is mystical that his funeral turned into an occasion where Armenian
and Turkish officials gathered together. He would have been happy to
see this turn into real dialogue," Mesrob said, weeping during part
of his eulogy.
Taipei Times
Jan 25 2007
The funeral of murdered Turkish journalist Hrant Dink brought over
100,000 Turks and Armenians together to grieve and denounce extremism
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Istanbul --- More than 100,000 people marched in a funeral procession
on Tuesday for a slain ethnic Armenian journalist who had angered
Turkish nationalists, suggesting that the grieving for Hrant Dink
may become a catalyst for liberal values and overcoming a century of
antagonism between Turks and Armenians.
"We are all Armenians" chanted mourners in an extraordinary outpouring
of affection for a journalist who had made enemies by calling the mass
killings of Armenians toward the end of the Ottoman Empire genocide.
Dink was gunned down outside his newspaper Agos in broad daylight
on Friday.
The murder triggered a period of intense introspection and touched off
debate about excessive nationalism, free expression and the ability
of Turks of different ethnic backgrounds to live together.
Throngs of mourners marched along the 8km route from the offices of
Agos to an Armenian Orthodox church -- virtually shutting down the
center of this massive city.
Many participants carried placards that read: "We are all Hrant Dinks."
Marchers took time off from work and school to join the procession,
and thousands leaned out of their office windows to applaud, weep
and throw flowers as the black hearse carrying Dink's body passed by.
Despite a request from his family not to turn the funeral into a
protest, many also raised their fists at times shouting: "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."
The 52-year-old journalist's daughter, Sera, carrying a framed portrait
of her father, wept as she walked in front of the coffin.
Dink, the editor of the bilingual Armenian-Turkish newspaper, 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 --
remarks that landed him in court and prompted death threats.
Comments on that tumultuous period of Turkish history have landed
several of the country's most famous thinkers in court.
Police were questioning seven suspects, including a teenager, Ogun
Samast, who authorities said 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, according to police.
The suspects also include a university student who allegedly "inspired"
the attack, Hurriyet newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Dink, one of the most important voices in Turkey's ethnic Armenian
community, insisted he wanted reconciliation between the two peoples.
"I had no intention of insulting Turkishness," he said 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 still invited Armenian
officials and religious leaders as well as moderate members of the
diaspora to the funeral. Armenia sent Deputy Foreign Minister Arman
Kirakosian.
The Armenian Orthodox Church sent US-based Bishop Khazkah Parsamian.
In an emotional speech to the crowd in front of the Agos office, 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 said.
"Unless we can question the darkness that turned this baby into a
murderer, we cannot achieve anything."
In a religious service attended by Armenians and Turks -- including
Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin and Interior Minister Abdulkadir
Aksu -- Armenian Patriarch Mesrob II called for expanded freedoms of
speech and along with more dialogue between Turks and Armenians.
"It is mystical that his funeral turned into an occasion where Armenian
and Turkish officials gathered together. He would have been happy to
see this turn into real dialogue," Mesrob said, weeping during part
of his eulogy.