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MFA of Armenia: Minister Oskanian sends message of sorrow to Hrant D

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  • MFA of Armenia: Minister Oskanian sends message of sorrow to Hrant D

    MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
    ------------------------------------------ ----
    PRESS AND INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
    Government House # 2, Republic Square
    Yerevan 0010, Republic of Armenia
    Telephone: +37410. 544041 ext 202
    Fax: +37410. 562543
    Email: [email protected]
    www.armeniaforeignministry.am

    PRESS RELEASE
    23-01-2007

    Minister Oskanian sends message of sorrow to Hrant Dink's family

    Hrant Dink, noted editor who was shot before his office on Friday,
    was laid to rest in Istanbul today. Armenia was represented at the
    funeral by Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakossian, and by Armenia's
    Permanent Representative to the Black Sea Economic Cooperation,
    in Istanbul, Karen Mirzoyan.

    Minister Oskanian, who was in Moscow for the regular meeting of the
    foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, on the Nagorno Karabakh
    conflict, sent a personal condolence letter to Hrant Dink's widow
    Raqel and the family.

    "It is with deep sorrow that I write this letter," he said. "We
    all join you in mourning this cruel, unnecessary, unimaginable,
    immeasurable loss. Hrant was more than the editor of a newspaper. He
    embodied the dreams of an entire nation. And he dreamt big.
    He believed in the goodness of mankind and its ability to bring
    change. He fought vigorously for individual freedom and liberty as
    instruments for change and progress.

    Minister Oskanian's letter continued. "And because he believed, he
    spoke and wrote with passion, thus converting many, near and far,
    into believers. Today, it is these believers who will carry forward
    his dream to be able to freely speak the truth, remember a shared,
    if painful, history, to recount the horrors of genocide in order
    to reject and condemn it once and for all, and to make new history
    together. Armenians and Turks together can ensure Hrant's desire
    for peace across borders, dialogue among peoples and understanding
    between individuals."

    The Minister stressed that, "Indeed, we have a responsibility
    to do this so that his death takes on meaning, just as his life
    was so meaningful and significant for so many. We have a further
    responsibility to make sure that the life we live together, in the
    same region, is a life of peace and understanding."

    The Minister's letter and a floral wreath were delivered to the family
    immediately preceding the funeral.

    >From Moscow, the Minister commented, "We were conducting dialogue to
    reach peace with Azerbaijan in Moscow, while an advocate of dialogue
    and peace, shot dead, was being laid to rest in Turkey. I couldn't
    help but think that violence, war, extremism are not the answers to
    any of the region's problems. I wonder if we will look back to this day
    and see Hrant's death as the catalyst for a new hope for the region."
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