Hrant Dink

[Arpa]

HRANT DINK

A MEMORIAL

Note, I will write this in the UPPER CASE so we won’t miss the intended message.

PLEAESE! PLEASE! I BEG OF YOU. DO NOT BRING THE BACK AND FORTH OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF HIS MURDER/ASSASSINATION. THERE IS ANOTHER PARALLEL THREAD DEALING WITH THAT. THIS IS A MEMORIAL, A CELBRATION OF HIS LIFE, LEGACY AND WORKS.

I know, I know it is very difficult to conati our anger, but as indicated, there is another thread going for that.

For more info you can go;

http://www.armeniapedia.org/index.php?title=Hrant_Dink

First a biography. Then we can, as we go along post his works and articles, and yes, if need be place wreathes and flowers to his memory.

Hrant Dink; (September 15, 1954 - January 19, 2007) was born in Malatya. He was best known for his role as editor of 'Agos' Turkish and Armenian Language weekly in Istanbul. He worked as the columnist and editor-in chief of AGOS weekly newspaper, which can be regarded as the voice of Armenian community, from 1996 until January 19, 2007 when he was shot dead outside of his office.

At the age of seven, he migrated to İstanbul together with his family. In Istanbul, his parents got divorced and he was raised by the Armenian Orphanage in Gedikpasa, Istanbul with his 2 siblings.

He got his primary and secondary education in Armenian schools. Immediately after secondary school, he got married to Rakel, a childhood friend from the orphanage. Hrant finished the Istanbul University's Science Faculty with a degree in zoology. Hrant served 8 months with the Turkish Naval Infantry Regiment in Denizli to satisfy his mandatory military service. He had three children with his wife.

He graduated from Zoology Department of İstanbul University’s Science Faculty. Then he continued his education at Philosophy Department of the same university’s Literature Faculty for a while.

He started to publish the Turkish-Armenian weekly newspaper AGOS on April 5, 1996 to establish a bridge of communication and understanding between the larger Turkish population and the Turkish-Armenian community which he complained was living too isolated an existence. He tried to make AGOS newspaper a democrat and oppositional voice of Turkey and also to share the injustices done to Armenian community with public opinion.

One of the major aims of the newspaper is to contribute to dialogue between Turkish and Armenian nations and also between Turkey and Armenia.

He took part in various democratic platforms and civil society organizations.

He was charged and convicted of insulting Turkishness in Turkey, charges which he denied.

Edited January 23, 2007 by Arpa

[Arpa]

We will try and add more to his memory ad legacy and his works to this memorial.

Here is his last. A premonition?

====

"The Pigeon-like Unease of My Inner Spirit" by Hrant Dink AGOS Newspaper 10 January 2007 (translated by F.M. Gocek)

20 janvier 2007 par Stephane

 

I did not at first feel troubled about the investigation that was filed against me by the Sisli public prosecutor’s office with the accusation of “insulting Turkishness.”

 

This was not the first time. I had been familiar to the accusation because of a similar lawsuit I had filed against me in Urfa . I was being tried in Urfa with the accusation of “denigrating Turkishness” over the past three years for having stated in a talk I gave at a conference there in 2002 that “I was not a Turk...but from Turkey and an Armenian.”

 

And I was even unaware about how the lawsuit was proceeding. I was not at all interested. My lawyer friends in Urfa were attending the hearings in my absence.

 

I was even quite nonchalant when I went and gave my deposition to the ?i?li public prosecutor. I ultimately had complete trust in what my intentions had been and what I had written. Once the prosecutor [had the chance] to evaluated not that single sentence from my editorial alone which made no sense by itself but the text as a whole, he would understand with great ease that I had no intention to “denigrate Turkishness” and this comedy would come to an end.

 

I was certain that a lawsuit would not be filed at the end of the investigation. I was sure of myself. But surprise ! A lawsuit was filed.

 

But I still did not lose my optimism.

 

So much so that at a television show that I joined live, I even told the lawyer [Kemal] Kerincsiz who was accusing me “that he should not get his hopes too high, that I was not going to be smacked with any sentence from this lawsuit, and that I would leave this country if I received a sentence.” I was sure of myself because I truly had not had in my article any premeditation or intention - not even a single iota - to denigrate Turkishness. Those who read the entirety of my collection of articles would understand this very clearly.

 

As a matter of fact, the report prepared by the three faculty members from Istanbul University who had been appointed by the court as experts stated exactly that. There was no reason for me to get troubled, there would certainly be a return from the wrongful path [of the lawsuit] at one stage of the proceedings or the other.

 

So I kept asking for patience...

 

But there was no such return.

 

The prosecutor asked for a sentence in spite of the expert report. The judge then sentenced me to six months in prison.

 

When I first heard about my sentence, I found myself under the bitter pressure of the hopes I had nurtured all along the process of the lawsuit. I was bewildered... My disappointment and rebellion were at their pinnacle.

 

I had resisted for days and months saying “just you wait for this decision to come out and once I am acquitted, then you will all be so repentant about all that you have said and written.”

 

In covering every hearing of the lawsuit, the newspapers items, editorials and television programs all referred to how I had said that “the blood of the Turk is poisonous.” Each and every time, they were adding to my fame as “the enemy of the Turk.” At the halls of the court, the fascists physically attacked me with racist curses.

 

They bombarded me with insults on their placards. The threats reaching hundreds that kept hailing for months through phones, e-mail and letters kept increasing each time.

 

And I persevered through all this with patience awaiting the decision for acquittal. Once the legal decision was announced, the truth was going to prevail and all these people would be ashamed of what they had done.

 

My only weapon was my sincerity. But here the decision was out and all my hopes were crushed. From then on, I was in the most distressed situation that a person could possibly be in.

 

The judge had made a decision in the name of the “Turkish nation” and had it legally registered that I had “denigrated Turkishness.” I could have persevered through anything except this.

 

According to my understanding, racism was the denigration by anyone of a person they lived alongside with on the basis of any difference, ethnic or religious and there was not any way in which this could ever be forgiven.

 

Well it was in this psychological state that I made the following declaration to the members of the media and friends who were at my doorstep trying to confirm “as to whether I would leave this country as I had indicated earlier :”

 

“I shall consult with my lawyers. I will appeal at the supreme court of appeal and will even go to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary. If I am not cleared through any one of these processes, then I shall leave my country. Because according to my opinion, someone who has been sentenced with such a crime does not have the right to live alongside the citizens whom he has denigrated.”

 

As I voiced this opinion, I was emotional as always. My only weapon was my sincerity.

 

Dark Humor

 

But it so happens that the deep force that was trying to single me out and make me an open target in the eyes of the people of Turkey found something wrong with this press release of mine as well and this time filed a lawsuit against me for attempting to influence the court. The entire Turkish media had given my declaration but what got their attention was what was writ in AGOS alone. And it so transpired that the legally responsible parties in the AGOS newspaper and I started to be tried this time around for attempting to influence the court. This must be what people call “dark humor.”

 

As I am the accused, who has the right more than the accused to try to influence the judiciary ? But look at this humorous situation that the accused is this time tried for trying to influence the judiciary.

 

“In the Name of the Turkish State ”

 

I have to confess that I had more than lost my trust in the concept of “Law” and the “System of Justice” in Turkey .

 

How could I have not ? Had these prosecutors, these judges not been educated in the university, graduated from faculties of law ? Weren’t they supposed to have the capacity to comprehend [and interpret] what they read ?

 

But it so transpires that the judiciary in this country, as also expressed without compunction by many a statesman and politician, is not independent.

 

The judiciary does not protect the rights of the citizen, but instead the State.

 

The judiciary is not there for the citizen, but under the control of the State.

 

As a matter of fact I was absolutely sure that even though it was stated that the decision in my case was reached “in the name of the Turkish nation,” it was a decision clearly not made “on behalf of the Turkish nation” but rather “on behalf of the Turkish state.” As a consequence, my lawyers were going to appeal the Supreme Court of Appeals, but what could guarantee that the deep forces that had decided to put me in my place would not be influential there either ?

 

And was it the case that the Supreme Court of Appeals always reached right decisions ? Wasn’t it the same Supreme Court of Appeal that had signed onto the unjust decision that stripped minority foundations of their properties ? [And had done so] in spite of the attempts of the Chief Public Prosecutor. And we did appeal and what did it get us ? Just like the report of the experts, the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals stated that there was no evidence of crime and asked for my acquittal but the Supreme Court of Appeals still found me guilty. The Chief Public Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals was just as certain about what he had read and understood as I had been about what I had written, so he objected to the decision and took the lawsuit to the General Council.

 

But what can I say, that great force which had decided once and for all to put me in my place and had made itself felt at every stage of my lawsuit through processes I would not even know about was there present once again behind the scenes. And as a consequence, it was declared by majority vote at General Council as well that I had denigrated Turkishness.

 

Like a Pigeon

 

This much is crystal clear that those who tried to single me out, render me weak and defenseless succeeded by their own measures. With the wrongful and polluted knowledge they oozed into society, they managed to form a significant segment of the population whose numbers cannot be easily dismissed who view Hrant Dink as someone “denigrating Turkishness.”

 

The diary and memory of my computer are filled with angry, threatening lines sent by citizens from this particular sector. (Let me note here at this juncture that even though one of these letters was sent from [the neighboring city of] Bursa and that I had found it rather disturbing because of the proximity of the danger it represented and [therefore] turned the threatening letter over to the ?i?li prosecutor’s office, I have not been able to get a result until this day.)

 

How real or unreal are these threats ? To be honest, it is of course impossible for me to know for sure. What it truly threatening and unbearable for me is the psychological torture I personally place myself in. “Now what are these people thinking about me ?” is the question that really bugs me. It is unfortunate that I am now better known than I once was and I feel much more the people throwing me that glance of “Oh, look, isn’t he that Armenian guy ?”

 

And I reflexively start torturing myself. One aspect of this torture is curiosity, the other unease. One aspect is attention, the other apprehension.

 

I am just like a pigeon.....

 

Obsessed just as much what goes on my left, right, front, back.

 

My head is just as mobile... and just as fast enough to turn right away.

 

And Here is the Cost for You

 

What did the Foreign Minister Abdullah G?te ? The Justice Minister Cemil ǩ祫 ? “Come on, there is nothing to exaggerate about [legal code 301]. Is there anyone who has actually been tried and imprisoned from it ?” As if the only cost one paid was imprisonment... Here is a cost for you... Here is a cost... Do you know, oh ministers, what kind of a cost it is to imprison a human being into the apprehensiveness of a pigeon ?... Do you know ?.... You, don’t you ever watch a pigeon ?

 

What They Call “Life-or-Death” What I have lived through has not been an easy process... And what we have lived through as a family... There were moments when I seriously thought about leaving the country and moving far away. And especially when the threats started to involve those close to me... At that point I always remained helpless. That must be what they call “Life-or-Death.” I could have resisted out of my own will, but I did not have the right to put into danger the life of anyone who was close to me. I could have been my own hero, but I did not have the right to be brave by placing, let along someone close to me, any other person in danger. During such helpless times, I gathered my family, my children together and sought refuge in them and received the greatest support from them. They trusted in me.

 

Wherever I would be, they would be there as well. If I said “let’s go” they would go, if I said “let’s stay” they would come.

 

To Stay and Resist Okay, but if we went, where would we go ? To the Armenian Republic ? How long someone like me who could not stand injustices put up with the injustices there ? Would not I get into even deeper trouble there ?

 

To go and live in the European countries was not at all the thing for me. After all, I am such a person that if I travel to the West for three days, I miss my country on the fourth and start writhing in boredom saying “let this be over so I can go back,” so what would I end up doing there ? The comfort there would have gotten to me ! Leaving “boiling hells” for “ready-made heavens” was not at all right for my personality make up. We were people who volunteered to transform the hells they lived into heavens. To stay and live in Turkey was necessary because we truly desired it and [had to do so] out of respect to the thousands of friends in Turkey who gave a struggle for democracy and who supported us. We were going to stay and we were going to resist. If we were forced to leave one day however... We were going to set out just as in 1915...Like our ancestors... Without knowing where we were going... Walking the roads they walked through... Feeling the ordeal, experiencing the pain.... With such a reproach we were going to leave our homeland. And we would go where our feet took us, but not our hearts.

 

Apprehensive and Free

 

I wish that we would never ever have to experience such a departure. We have way too many reasons and hope not to experience it anyhow.

 

Now I am applying to the European Court of Human Rights. How long this lawsuit will last, I do not know. The fact that I do know and that somewhat puts me at ease is that I will be living in Turkey at least until the lawsuit is finalized. If the court decides in my favor, I will undoubtedly become very happy and it would mean that I would never have to leave my country. From my own vantage point, 2007 will probably be even a more difficult year. The trials will continue, new ones will commence. Who knows what kinds of additional injustices I would have to confront ? While all these occur, I will consider this one truth my only security. Yes, I may perceive myself in the spiritual unease of a pigeon, but I do know that in this country people do not touch pigeons. Pigeons live their lives all the way deep into the city, even amidst the human throngs. Yes, somewhat apprehensive but just as much free.

 

St鰨ane

 

[RemainFaithful]

Was Hrant Dink an Armenian Evangelical? There is no mention of this. If he was, why didn't his burrial ceremony take place in the Armenian Evangelical Church of Bolis?

[Arpa]

Please allow me to post this agian. We first saw it in the thread about "Assassination....". We will try and bring more so we understand who and what Hrant was and what made him tick so much as to offer himself to be martyred.

====

 

http://emmanuel-chanitz.blogspot.com/2007/...og-post_23.html

 

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

 

Ցաւակագիր՝ «Ակօս»ի Խմբագրութեան

Սիրելի պաշտօնակիցներ եւ բարեկամներ,

Վստահ եմ, թէ ձեզմէ շատեր տեղեակ եղան հռչակաւոր թրքահայ լրագրող Հրանդ Տինքի սպաննութեան տխուր լուրին: Պոլսոյ Հայ Աւետարանական համայնքի անդամ եւ նախկին աշխարհիկ ղեկավար սպաննուեցաւ իր խմբագրած «Ակօս» շաբաթաթերթի գրասենեակի մուտքին:

[i am sure that most of you know about the sad news regarding the death of the infamous Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. A member of the Armenian Evangelical Church in Bolis (Istanbul), and a lay leader (*), who was assassinated in front of his established "Agos" weekly news agency office.]

Ոճիրը տեղի ունեցաւ Ուրբաթ, 19 Յունուար 2007ին: 53 տարեկան Տինք, որ Թուրքիոյ մէջ ծանօթ էր իբրեւ խօսքի ազատութեան պաշտպան, նաեւ յայտնի էր Հայկական Ցեղասպանութեան վերաբերեալ իր բացայայտ կարծիքներով: Ան «թրքութիւնը անարգելու»ն համար թրքական կարավարութեան կողմէ շարունակ նեղութեան կ՛ենթարկուէր: 2005ի թրքական քրէական օրէնսգիրի թիւ 301 յօդուածի հիմամբ «թրքութիւնը անարգելու»ն համար ամբաստանուեցաւ, եւ ատեանը զայն մեղաւոր հռչակելով անոր տուաւ վեցամսեայ բանտարկութեան առկախեալ դատավճիռ մը: Այդ օրէն սկսեալ ան սպառնալիքներ ստացաւ թուրք ազգայնականներէ, որոնք դաւաճան մը եւ «թուրք ժողովուրդը կռնակէն հարուածող» անձ մը կը նկատէին Տինքը:

Իր «Ակօս» շաբաթաթերթին միջոցաւ Տինք կարեւոր դեր մը խաղաց՝ խօսքի ազատութիւն, ժողովրդավարութիւն եւ մարդկային իրաւունքներ ջատագովելով: Ան նաեւ դատապաշտպանն էր Թուրքիոյ փոքրաթիւ հայ համայնքին: Առանց ճշմարտութենէն զիջելու, բայց մեծ վարուելագիտութեամբ եւ նկատառութեամբ, Հրանդ իր կարծիքները արտայայտեց ու իր վկայութիւնը տուաւ իր ըմբռնած ճշմարտութեան այդ պատճառով ան դարձաւ Թուրքիոյ մէջ ականաւոր հայկական բանբերներէն մէկը:

 

 

 

[Arpa]

An here is another soul brother of Hrant, another potential Martyr who, by some miracle is still alive and brething.

====

 

 

Damnit! Curses! Curses!

Democracy my eye! If that means “one man/woman one font/system, then allow me to say what to do with democr-ass-y.

Why can’t I repost the following text in a compatibly legible format?

Why for a people of 6 to 10 million? We have 11 million fonts and systems? Does that mean that the 5.9 billion English/Latin speakers should have 7 billion systems?!!

Enough!

SHUT ME UP!!I don’t need any more reasons to hyperventilate.

Anyway. For those who can’t see the ArmText, here is my meager attempt of translation. I have taken some linguistic, idiomatic and contextual liberty for obvious reasons.

+++

 

غð îºê²ÎòàôÂÆôÜܺðÀ

ìºð. ¶ðƶàð ²Ô²ä²ÔúÔÈàôÆ Ðºî

OUR INTEVIEW WITH Rev. Grigor Aghabaghoghlu

By Dr. M. S. Herkelian

Lately, the Polsahay Rev. Aghabaloghlu was in Toronto on a spiritual mission. Given that his “dire” biography, and his opinion on the Genocide are already well known by many. Let us get to the interview.

Q. You are a spiritual “father”, yet you have a clear political stance, in the line of the Genocide, valiantly struggling, and you wage verbal war even in Turkey. You disregard persecution and many threats. Aehere do you get all this courage, and this readiness to serve?

A. At the present I live in Turkey. We and our ancestors have felt the hatred the Turks have against us. When I became a man of God He led me. Jesus has said; “I have come to preach the truth”. He gave me the courage and the inspiration to preach the truth. My courage comes from the Gospels. It gives my the passion to not lie. Jesus was crucified for telling the truth. After all truth does not get lost.

Q. We just talked about the spiritual aspect of your life. The next question is about your logic.

A. First and foremost I was trained as a historian. The Genocide is an education in history all by itself. Remember that we, the Armenians living in the land of Turks, have constantly been persecuted, and we had to think about protecting ourselves, trusting human rights in the least. The right to live and survive is a God given privilege. We cannot circumvent the spiritual. A tragic happening in y family life, I turned into a nonbeliever for a while. During that time I felt powerless and weak. But when returned to God I felt the need to speak the truth.

Q. You say that you are under permanent persecution. Doe the Genocide still continue?

A. Of course!

Q. How?

A. Let me explain. For example, in 1942 the Turkish government enacted a new tax law only to apply to minorities. That was under the guise of war tax. Today the war has ended for over 50 years, yet they still conscribe our sons and fathers into the army. They are treated as untrustworthy elements and they are insulted. Is this not a kind of extermination? I question why in 1942 Armenian properties were confiscated, by what right? Which human law was that basd on?

Q. What else?

A. Let me continue. In early September of 1956 they planted a bomb at t Atatturk’s residence and they used that as an excuse to terrorize and persecute the minorities (Armenian, Greek and Assyrian). And to this they have not apologized. In 1974 there was a problem in Cyprus. It was Christian v Mulsim. In spite that it was a foreign problem, still, we he as Christians were persecuted. Why? In the same year the Turkish supreme court enacted a law which empowered the government to confiscate every property owned by minorities that were purchased after 1936.Do you know why?

Q. Why?

A. To save the state from bankruptcy. The churches protested, but the properties were returned to the original sellers, the churches had to buy them for a second time. If this is not financial genocide, then what is it?

Q. Have such things happened otherwise?

A. Yes. Even in 1991 they marked all properties of Armenians so they could not be sold. I only learned these facts after I joined the church. We built buildings on properties owned by the church and we tried to sell them. We had to wait six years until the law was reversed. These are proofs that heir attitude towards us has not changed.

Q. Do the Turk- Armenians (trqahays) bring such punishments upon themselves?

A. Never. The Armenian as a citizen has never lacked. We have always abided by our civic duties even we when have never enjoyed the rights of a full citizen.

Q. You have often publicly spoken about these issues and for that have been subjected to persecution.

A. Once, during an iterrogation the Turkish police said; “ Why do you constantly talk about thse things and subject yourself to danger. Why do always see your name in the mdeia. Are ther no others Armenians”? I told him that there indeed were, but I as a spiritual leader must speak the truth. There is so many good, and there is evil. I cannot lie. I am a believer, I must speak the truth.

Q. Have they harmed you personally or your work?

 

A. All Armenians living in the country have been hurt in words and deed. For instance, I am an historian by training, and I am qualified and entitled to teach at any institution of higher education. Yet, all my applications have been rejected with the excuse that there is no vacancy. I know that there many vacancies. It is simply because I am Armenian and a “foreigner” even if we are the rightful owners of Anatolia. We have lived on thats land for over 4000 years while their history goes no further than 1000.

Q. Lately we have been hearing about Islamized Armenians and Turks with Armenian origin. What is your opinion?

A. I have met them on many occasions. Today, in Turkey there are many different kinds of Armenians. The has been systematically humiliating and abasing the Armenian, so much so that many will feel inadequate to declare anything but being “proud turk” and keep their heads down. They (state) not only will force the Armenians to change their names, they would also rename places. They renamed Ararat as Agri, Musyi Ler as Saman Dag, Tigranakert as Dyarbakir. This is nothing short of psychological war to erase all of our vestiges.

A. About at least one million, very few of whom know about their origin. Even if they intermarry among themselves, but they find returning to Christianity very difficult.

Q. Why?

.A. A true story. An Islamized young man comes to Polis to visit his relatives. He notices that they go to church. When his kin tell him the story and suggest that he also be baptized and turn to Christianity, he is totally confused. He says; “How can I be baptized when my own brother is the mulah of the village”? Yet, there are those who come and get baptized. Today, there are villages where they speak Armenian but the young generation hase no idea what it is.

Q. Can you cite cases?

A. A young person who worked in a government office once asked his mother why they speak a different language in their village. The mother tries to hide the truth. This young man once came to see me and told me that they speak a strange language in their village. And when started reciting “mek erkou erek chors” I told him that that was Armenian. He was first amazed that I knew his language, then he listened about his origin with great interest, however he declined bapatism for fear of losing his job. Another time when Rev. Movses Jamaican ( he was the one causing me to come to Jesus), was in Polis, we went out to a restaurant. We were speaking Armenian. The server came over and asked us what language it was we were talking (that sounded somewhat familiar). The fear is always there. The common people don’t mean evil. It is the government.

Q. Are you afraid?

A. By the grace of God I am protected by my powerful faith. When I preach in Canada I am always leery that there may be Turks in the congregation whose purpose is to spy and inform o me. Yet, regardless, my faith gives me the strength.

:Q. Armeno-Turkish cultural exchange has not yet been seriously scrutinized. What is your opinion?

A. At one occasion, a Turkish intellectual told me; “You brought Armenian Music here and introduced it to us. Can we go to Armenia and freely spread Turkish culture”? My answer; “First you have to try. Then, have you considered why you hesitate to go to Armenia and introduce your ‘culture‘”? This is my conviction. Even if this question may be subject to interpretation, we are culturally powerful, and that is how e can win.

Q. Do you want to add your personal comment?

A. One time a judge at the supreme court called me and said; “You have spoken against the president”. To my answer as to why the president does not mention our holidays, and that when one loves one, one expects something good, and if I am wrong and lying, then tell me”. He forbade me to speak about the Genocide for three years. And I, being poor, sent him a copy of the Gospel and asked him to read it to see why I must always speak the truth. Today,those three years have expired and once again I am back speaking about the Genocide.

Q. Are you willing to continue your national duty?

 

A. That is the duty of my spirit.

 

¼ñáÛóÁ í³ñ»óª

¸àÎî. Ø. ê. кðκȺ²Ü