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Widow of Hrant Dink continues journalist's fight for human rights

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  • Widow of Hrant Dink continues journalist's fight for human rights

    Boston Globe, MA
    Feb 1 2009


    Widow continues journalist's fight for human rights

    She hopes to shed new light on Turkey's past

    By Jenna Russell
    Globe Staff / February 1, 2009

    ARLINGTON - Days after her husband, the outspoken Turkish Armenian
    journalist and activist Hrant Dink, was shot dead outside his Istanbul
    office, Rakel Dink urged forgiveness.

    The killing of her husband, a beloved human rights leader, sparked
    outrage and protest, and it pushed his widow to become an even more
    visible spokeswoman for his ideals and goals.

    Today, Rakel Dink will speak at a panel discussion at MIT about her
    husband's legacy. The event is organized by a new Cambridge-based
    nonprofit group, Friends of Hrant Dink, dedicated to the cause of
    human rights. Yesterday, she told her story to an appreciative
    audience at the Armenian Cultural Foundation in Arlington.

    "His death, as painful as it is, brought a message to all the people
    in Turkey," Rakel Dink said yesterday, in an interview conducted in
    Turkish and translated by her longtime family friend Eric Ozcan. "It
    motivated people, and gave them reasons to talk about the dark past,
    the problems that have been pushed under the carpet for close to 100
    years."

    By speaking out - and leaving behind her once-quiet life as a wife and
    mother - Dink, 50, said she hopes to continue the conversation her
    husband started.

    Panelists at today's 3 p.m. event at MIT will include Oktay Ozel, a
    professor of Ottoman history; Peter Balakian, author of a best-selling
    book about the Armenian genocide; and Andrew Tarsy, who was ousted
    from his job at the Anti-Defamation League last year after a public
    skirmish with the organization over its position on the Armenian
    genocide.

    Hrant Dink - who was editor of Agos, the Turkish Armenian newspaper he
    founded - was a leader of the minority Armenian community in
    Turkey. Dink advocated fearlessly for Turkey to recognize as genocide
    the deaths of some 1.5 million Armenians in the early 20th century,
    during the final years of the Ottoman empire. He clashed with the
    government frequently, and was tried and found guilty in 2005 of
    violating a ban on "anti-Turkish" statements.

    Frequently threatened for his views, he was shot to death in broad
    daylight on a busy street by a teenager believed to have been
    influenced by the country's militant nationalist movement. The
    investigation continues, said Rakel Dink.

    The couple, both from humble backgrounds, first met as youngsters 40
    years ago in an orphanage camp. Married 30 years, they had three
    children, now in their 20s. For decades, Rakel Dink was a quiet source
    of strength for her husband, living outside of the spotlight.

    "Every morning, he would say, 'Pray for me; you're my angel,' " Dink
    told a gathering of about 50 Armenian-Americans yesterday at the
    lakeside Greek Revival mansion home of the Armenian Cultural
    Foundation.

    The crowd, most of whom followed Dink's remarks in Armenian without
    help of a translator, murmured as she described her husband's
    dedication.

    "One friend of his said that if he knew his death would improve
    relations between Turks and Armenians, perhaps he would have said he
    was willing to die before this," said Dink. "He was a very noble
    person."

    Since his death at age 52, an international foundation set up in his
    name has advanced the democratic mission Dink embraced. Yesterday, his
    widow described some of the efforts under way: An institute to be
    founded in his name, devoted to the study of Armenian history and
    culture; a conference to focus on themes of discrimination and
    tolerance; an archive to collect his speeches and writings; a
    biography she hopes will be published.

    Among those listening yesterday was Joy Renjilian, a leader of the
    cultural foundation.

    "She's a woman of great faith, courage, and vision," Renjilian said of
    Dink, "because she could have continued her life in private, but she
    chose to carry on and celebrate his life and legacy."

    The new Cambridge-based nonprofit named for Dink will also work to
    further his goals of free speech and equality. Its ultimate goal, said
    Harry Parsekian, one of its members, is nothing less than
    Turkish-Armenian reconciliation.

    http://www.boston.com/news/local/ massachusetts/articles/2009/02/01/widow_continues_ journalists_fight_for_human_rights/
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