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Armenian National Committee - San Francisco Bay Area
51 Commonwealth Avenue
San Francisco, California 94118
Phone: 415.387.3433 Fax: 415.751.0617
[email protected] www.ancsf.org
PRESS RELEASE
Friday, January 23, 2007
Contact: Armen Carapetian
Tel: (415) 948-7091
BAY AREA ARMENIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY OUTRAGED OVER DINK ASSASSINATION
-- Funeral services to be held on Tuesday in Istanbul, Turkey
-- Armenian editor shot to death in Istanbul for publicizing the Armenian
Genocide
-- "The real murderers are in the Governor's office," says Turkish professor
in S.F.
SAN FRANCISCO - The Bay Area Armenian American community gathered for
requiem services on January 21 and public gatherings over two days to
express its grief and outrage over the assassination of Hrant Dink, the
Armenian newspaper editor shot dead in front of his office in Istanbul,
Turkey on Friday. Thousands of mourners and demonstrators are expected at
Dink's funeral on Tuesday, January 23.
The editor had faced a succession of government criminal prosecutions, under
a law prohibiting "insulting Turkishness," and had received personal death
threats for his publications about taboo subjects in Turkey, including the
Armenian Genocide.
"The real murderers are in the Governor's office," said Prof. Taner Akcam
who addressed the Armenian American community at an event Saturday evening.
Akcam, a professor of History at the University of Minnesota, is a Turkish
citizen, who was the first Turkish academician to write about the Armenian
Genocide in 1991.
Over the past two days many inside and outside of Turkey have expressed
strong suspicion that the government authorities were behind the killing.
Regarding the Turkish Prime Minister's statement of dismay after the murder,
Akcam said, "We don't need his crocodile tears. This was a culmination of an
ongoing campaign against Hrant by the Turkish deep state."
"The press, government, military...they all bear responsibility for his
murder," said Akcam, pointing to the severe laws against free speech and the
extreme nationalistic atmosphere which permeates Turkey. "It was no
accident. This time, Hrant was chosen as a target. He was targeted because,
believe me, he was Armenian."
Akcam told the crowd about Dink's recent summons to the Istanbul Lt.
Governor's office, where he said he was warned to contain his writing,
because "there were many crazy young men on the streets." A 17-yr old youth
fitting the description of the murderer was arrested on his way to Trabzon
on the Black Sea, carrying the gun and white cap witnesses had described the
assailant was wearing at the time of the murder.
After a requiem service on Sunday, the Bay Area Armenian National Committee
(ANC) held a public gathering at the Armenian Community Center, showing
slides of the murder scene and mass demonstrations in Istanbul as well as
video of Dink's talk to Bay Area Armenians last year, in which he spoke of
the need for democracy and free speech in Turkey.
"Every day Hrant Dink was on the front lines of the battle for Armenian
Genocide recognition by the Turkish government," said Roxanne Makasdjian,
Chairperson of the Bay Area ANC. Having met with Dink in July, she told the
crowd that he had received many death threats and that the government was
opening another criminal case against him.
"We cannot allow his death to have been in vain. Here in the US, we must
call on our government to urge its ally, Turkey, to accept the truth of its
history, as the only means by which it can begin the process of
democratization," said Makasdjian.
In the US Congress, a resolution commemorating the Armenian Genocide is
expected to be introduced in the coming days. In previous years when similar
resolutions have been introduced, they have been prevented from proceeding
to a full vote, due to Turkish government lobby efforts.
San Francisco Representative and House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has been a
co-sponsor of previous resolutions, and pledged during her recent campaign
to continue her support for Armenian Genocide recognition.
51 Commonwealth Avenue
San Francisco, California 94118
Phone: 415.387.3433 Fax: 415.751.0617
[email protected] www.ancsf.org
PRESS RELEASE
Friday, January 23, 2007
Contact: Armen Carapetian
Tel: (415) 948-7091
BAY AREA ARMENIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY OUTRAGED OVER DINK ASSASSINATION
-- Funeral services to be held on Tuesday in Istanbul, Turkey
-- Armenian editor shot to death in Istanbul for publicizing the Armenian
Genocide
-- "The real murderers are in the Governor's office," says Turkish professor
in S.F.
SAN FRANCISCO - The Bay Area Armenian American community gathered for
requiem services on January 21 and public gatherings over two days to
express its grief and outrage over the assassination of Hrant Dink, the
Armenian newspaper editor shot dead in front of his office in Istanbul,
Turkey on Friday. Thousands of mourners and demonstrators are expected at
Dink's funeral on Tuesday, January 23.
The editor had faced a succession of government criminal prosecutions, under
a law prohibiting "insulting Turkishness," and had received personal death
threats for his publications about taboo subjects in Turkey, including the
Armenian Genocide.
"The real murderers are in the Governor's office," said Prof. Taner Akcam
who addressed the Armenian American community at an event Saturday evening.
Akcam, a professor of History at the University of Minnesota, is a Turkish
citizen, who was the first Turkish academician to write about the Armenian
Genocide in 1991.
Over the past two days many inside and outside of Turkey have expressed
strong suspicion that the government authorities were behind the killing.
Regarding the Turkish Prime Minister's statement of dismay after the murder,
Akcam said, "We don't need his crocodile tears. This was a culmination of an
ongoing campaign against Hrant by the Turkish deep state."
"The press, government, military...they all bear responsibility for his
murder," said Akcam, pointing to the severe laws against free speech and the
extreme nationalistic atmosphere which permeates Turkey. "It was no
accident. This time, Hrant was chosen as a target. He was targeted because,
believe me, he was Armenian."
Akcam told the crowd about Dink's recent summons to the Istanbul Lt.
Governor's office, where he said he was warned to contain his writing,
because "there were many crazy young men on the streets." A 17-yr old youth
fitting the description of the murderer was arrested on his way to Trabzon
on the Black Sea, carrying the gun and white cap witnesses had described the
assailant was wearing at the time of the murder.
After a requiem service on Sunday, the Bay Area Armenian National Committee
(ANC) held a public gathering at the Armenian Community Center, showing
slides of the murder scene and mass demonstrations in Istanbul as well as
video of Dink's talk to Bay Area Armenians last year, in which he spoke of
the need for democracy and free speech in Turkey.
"Every day Hrant Dink was on the front lines of the battle for Armenian
Genocide recognition by the Turkish government," said Roxanne Makasdjian,
Chairperson of the Bay Area ANC. Having met with Dink in July, she told the
crowd that he had received many death threats and that the government was
opening another criminal case against him.
"We cannot allow his death to have been in vain. Here in the US, we must
call on our government to urge its ally, Turkey, to accept the truth of its
history, as the only means by which it can begin the process of
democratization," said Makasdjian.
In the US Congress, a resolution commemorating the Armenian Genocide is
expected to be introduced in the coming days. In previous years when similar
resolutions have been introduced, they have been prevented from proceeding
to a full vote, due to Turkish government lobby efforts.
San Francisco Representative and House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has been a
co-sponsor of previous resolutions, and pledged during her recent campaign
to continue her support for Armenian Genocide recognition.