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STILL PURSUING JUSTICE FOUR YEARS AFTER DINK MURDER
BIAnet.org
Jan 20 2011
Turkey
"No justice in 4 years" was one of the messages on the signs carried
by thousands of people commemorating assassinated Turkish-Armenian
journalist Harnt Dink on the fourth anniversary of his death.
Istanbul - BÄ°A News Center20 January 2011, Thursday Thousands
of people gathered in front of the Agos newspaper in Istanbul on
Wednesday, 19 January, to commemorate Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink. The founder of the Armenian Agos weekly was lethally shot
in front of his office in Å~^iÅ~_li (Istanbul) on 19 January 2007 at
around 3.00 pm.
Friends of Dink demanded once more to shed light on the assassination
of Hrant Dink and other unsolved political murders and reiterated
their demand for justice.
Many attendants of the ceremony left red carnations and lit candles at
the place Dink was killed. They carried sings featuring slogans like
"No justice in 4 years", "No parliament in 4 years". They chanted
the slogans "We are all Hrant Dink", "Justice for "Hrant Dink" and
"The people will call the murderers to account".
Dink's memory of Mrs Beatris Groups who had gathered at Taksim Square
and in Mecidiyeköy started walking towards the Agos newspaper office
in Å~^iÅ~_li at 1.30 pm. A third group joined by artist Mustafa
Alabora walked from the Taksim district to the Armenian weekly.
Nukhet Ä°pekci, daughter of killed journalist Abdi Ä°pekci, delivered
a speech from the balcony of the newspaper office. Dink's widow Rakel
Dink greeted the crowd from a window. The street was closed to traffic
because of the commemoration ceremony.
The ceremony started with a playback of Hrant Dink's voice. In the
recording, Dink described his memories of 70-year-old Mrs Beatris
who used to come from France to her abandoned village. Dink recalled
a conversation with her daughter after Mrs Beatris' death, when she
had come to Sivas to collect her mother's body.
The son of Mrs Beatris had told Dink on the phone that it would be
the most natural thing to bury their mother's body right there. After
Dink had summarized the conversation, he said, "Yes, the Armenians
do have an eye on that land because our roots are there. We have an
eye on it but not to go and cease it but to reach its base".
Speech of Nukhet Ä°pekci Also members of the Platform for Social
Conscience established by the families of people killed in unsolved
political murders attended the ceremony. Nukhet Ä°pekci delivered
a speech on behalf of the relatives of Kemal Turkler, Ahmet Kaya,
Sabahattin Ali, Orhan Yavuz, Dogan Oz, Necdet Bulut, Akın Ozdemir,
Abdi İpekci, Cevat Yurdakul, Cavit Orhan Tutengil, Umit Kaftancıoglu,
Sevinc Ozguner, Mehmet Zeki Tekiner, İlhan Erdost, Metin Göktepe,
Necip Hablemitoglu, Yusuf Ekinci, Yasemin Cebenoyan, Onat Kutlar,
Hasan Ocak, Muammer Aksoy, Cetin Emec, Turan Dursun, Musa Anter,
Ugur Mumcu, Nesimi Cimen, Behcet Aysan and Metin Altıok
Ä°pekci, daughter of the General Publications Director of the Milliyet
daily, Abdi Ä°pekci, reminded Hrant Dink's statement "I do not like
portrait sculptures, I like people". She demanded to disclose the
fact behind the unsolved political murders as soon as possible. "We
are after every single murder. Every single one of these murders is
known as a crime against humanity. We expect justice to be dispensed
as soon as possible", she said.
Petition for the investigation of 31 people The joint attorneys of
the Dink family emphasized that they submitted a petition two days
earlier to demand an investigation about 31 people. The commemoration
ceremony was attended by writer Vedat Turkali, writer Adalet Agaoglu,
Ahmet Kaya's widow Gulten Kaya, writer Sırrı Sureyya Onder, writer
Oral CalıÅ~_lar, DÄ°SK General President Suleyman Celebi, artists
Mehmet Ali Alabora, Mustafa Alabora, Ferhat Tunc, Zeynep Tanbay, Haluk
Levent, Yavuz Bingöl, EMEP Chairman Levent Tuzel, Nilgun Turkler as
the daughter of slain DÄ°SK President Kemal Turkler, CHP Ä°stanbul
MPCetin Soysal, CHP Deputy Chairman Umut Oran, BDP Deputies Sebahat
Tuncel and Akın Birdal and ODP Chairman Alper TaÅ~_.
Many of the attendants of the ceremony will gather again on 7 February
at 10.00 am in front of the BeÅ~_iktaÅ~_ (Istanbul) Courthouse prior
to that day's hearing of the Hrant Dink murder case. Hrant Dink was
also commemorated by a torchlight walk from Takism to Galata Square
(central Istanbul) in the evening of 19 January. (BB/EO/VK)
From: A. Papazian
BIAnet.org
Jan 20 2011
Turkey
"No justice in 4 years" was one of the messages on the signs carried
by thousands of people commemorating assassinated Turkish-Armenian
journalist Harnt Dink on the fourth anniversary of his death.
Istanbul - BÄ°A News Center20 January 2011, Thursday Thousands
of people gathered in front of the Agos newspaper in Istanbul on
Wednesday, 19 January, to commemorate Turkish-Armenian journalist
Hrant Dink. The founder of the Armenian Agos weekly was lethally shot
in front of his office in Å~^iÅ~_li (Istanbul) on 19 January 2007 at
around 3.00 pm.
Friends of Dink demanded once more to shed light on the assassination
of Hrant Dink and other unsolved political murders and reiterated
their demand for justice.
Many attendants of the ceremony left red carnations and lit candles at
the place Dink was killed. They carried sings featuring slogans like
"No justice in 4 years", "No parliament in 4 years". They chanted
the slogans "We are all Hrant Dink", "Justice for "Hrant Dink" and
"The people will call the murderers to account".
Dink's memory of Mrs Beatris Groups who had gathered at Taksim Square
and in Mecidiyeköy started walking towards the Agos newspaper office
in Å~^iÅ~_li at 1.30 pm. A third group joined by artist Mustafa
Alabora walked from the Taksim district to the Armenian weekly.
Nukhet Ä°pekci, daughter of killed journalist Abdi Ä°pekci, delivered
a speech from the balcony of the newspaper office. Dink's widow Rakel
Dink greeted the crowd from a window. The street was closed to traffic
because of the commemoration ceremony.
The ceremony started with a playback of Hrant Dink's voice. In the
recording, Dink described his memories of 70-year-old Mrs Beatris
who used to come from France to her abandoned village. Dink recalled
a conversation with her daughter after Mrs Beatris' death, when she
had come to Sivas to collect her mother's body.
The son of Mrs Beatris had told Dink on the phone that it would be
the most natural thing to bury their mother's body right there. After
Dink had summarized the conversation, he said, "Yes, the Armenians
do have an eye on that land because our roots are there. We have an
eye on it but not to go and cease it but to reach its base".
Speech of Nukhet Ä°pekci Also members of the Platform for Social
Conscience established by the families of people killed in unsolved
political murders attended the ceremony. Nukhet Ä°pekci delivered
a speech on behalf of the relatives of Kemal Turkler, Ahmet Kaya,
Sabahattin Ali, Orhan Yavuz, Dogan Oz, Necdet Bulut, Akın Ozdemir,
Abdi İpekci, Cevat Yurdakul, Cavit Orhan Tutengil, Umit Kaftancıoglu,
Sevinc Ozguner, Mehmet Zeki Tekiner, İlhan Erdost, Metin Göktepe,
Necip Hablemitoglu, Yusuf Ekinci, Yasemin Cebenoyan, Onat Kutlar,
Hasan Ocak, Muammer Aksoy, Cetin Emec, Turan Dursun, Musa Anter,
Ugur Mumcu, Nesimi Cimen, Behcet Aysan and Metin Altıok
Ä°pekci, daughter of the General Publications Director of the Milliyet
daily, Abdi Ä°pekci, reminded Hrant Dink's statement "I do not like
portrait sculptures, I like people". She demanded to disclose the
fact behind the unsolved political murders as soon as possible. "We
are after every single murder. Every single one of these murders is
known as a crime against humanity. We expect justice to be dispensed
as soon as possible", she said.
Petition for the investigation of 31 people The joint attorneys of
the Dink family emphasized that they submitted a petition two days
earlier to demand an investigation about 31 people. The commemoration
ceremony was attended by writer Vedat Turkali, writer Adalet Agaoglu,
Ahmet Kaya's widow Gulten Kaya, writer Sırrı Sureyya Onder, writer
Oral CalıÅ~_lar, DÄ°SK General President Suleyman Celebi, artists
Mehmet Ali Alabora, Mustafa Alabora, Ferhat Tunc, Zeynep Tanbay, Haluk
Levent, Yavuz Bingöl, EMEP Chairman Levent Tuzel, Nilgun Turkler as
the daughter of slain DÄ°SK President Kemal Turkler, CHP Ä°stanbul
MPCetin Soysal, CHP Deputy Chairman Umut Oran, BDP Deputies Sebahat
Tuncel and Akın Birdal and ODP Chairman Alper TaÅ~_.
Many of the attendants of the ceremony will gather again on 7 February
at 10.00 am in front of the BeÅ~_iktaÅ~_ (Istanbul) Courthouse prior
to that day's hearing of the Hrant Dink murder case. Hrant Dink was
also commemorated by a torchlight walk from Takism to Galata Square
(central Istanbul) in the evening of 19 January. (BB/EO/VK)
From: A. Papazian