Unfortunately those who have guns know only the language of violence in Turkey as in the other parts of the world. I am so sad about the assasination of Turkish Armenian Hrant Dink.


Following report is from cnn.com




A prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist who spoke out against the killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire early last century was shot to death Friday.

Hrant Dink, 53, editor of the Armenian-Turkish language weekly Agos newspaper, was shot dead in front of the Istanbul publication as he was leaving.

The killing prompted swift denunciation by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said the attack was a "shock" and an "insult" to the Turkish nation and a "dark day" -- not only for Dink's family but for all of Turkey as well.

"The dark hands that killed him will be found and punished," Erdogan said, in televised remarks.

Authorities are looking into a lead that he was shot four times by a young man who appeared to be 18 or 19 years old.

Described as a "well-known commentator on Armenian affairs," Dink has faced a number of cases in connection with "insulting" the Turkish state for his writings.

"Some of the trial hearings have been marred by violent scenes inside and outside the courtrooms, instigated by nationalist activists calling for Dink to be punished," said a profile on the Web site of Pen American Center -- the writers' group that promotes free expression.

Agos, an Armenian-Turkish language weekly, was established in 1996.

Andrew Finkel, a journalist in Turkey and a friend of Dink's, emphasized that the killing was "a tragedy" for a country attempting to "come to terms with its past."

Finkel said resentment toward Dink existed among ultranationalist Turks, and said the same people who staged "ugly scenes" at his trials are the same people who staged rallies directed at Orhan Pamuk, the Nobel Prize-winning Turkish writer who faced charges of insulting Turkishness as well.

He described Dink as a "bright" and brash" man who was a "well-known figure in Istanbul" and an advocate for Turkey's small Armenian community -- a once-populous group now numbering around 60,000 or 70,000.

"If anything, he was a great Turkish patriot," Finkel told CNN in an interview.

Pen's profile said that in 2005, Dink "had been charged for an article published in Agos in which he discussed the impact on present day Armenian diaspora of the killings of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by the Ottoman army in 1915-17."

Hot-button issue
This is a hot-button issue in the region, Pen notes.

Armenians and other countries regard the killings of Armenians in the early 20th century as a a genocide, a claim rejected by the Turkish government, which says Armenians and Turks were killed in civil warfare.

Dink was one of the most prominent voices of Turkey's shrinking Armenian community.

A Turkish citizen of Armenian descent, he had received threats from nationalists, who viewed him as a traitor.

In an earlier interview with The Associated Press, Dink had cried as he talked about some of his fellow countrymen's hatred for him, saying he could not stay in a country where he was unwanted.

Joel Campagna, Mideast program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, said, "Like dozens of other Turkish journalists, Hrant Dink has faced political persecution because of his work. Now it appears he's paid the ultimate price for it."

Campagna said that Turkey "must ensure that this crime does not go unpunished like other cases in the past and that those responsible for his murder are brought to justice."

He said that over the last 15 years, 18 Turkish journalists have been killed -- making the country the eighth deadliest in the world for journalists in that period. He said that many of the deaths took place in the early 1990s "at the peak of the Kurdish separatist insurgency."

He said killings, other attacks against journalists that don't result in deaths, and the many cases of Turkish journalists facing criminal charges under "vague statutes" create a "chilling effect" among media workers.

Private NTV television said police were searching for the suspected murderer, believed to be a teenager wearing a white hat and a denim jacket, but the identity and motivation of the shooter were unknown, AP reported.

Dink's body could be seen covered with a white sheet in front of the newspaper's entrance. NTV said four empty shell casings were found on the ground and that he was killed by two bullets to the head.

Fehmi Koru, a columnist at the Yeni Safak newspaper, said the murder was aimed at destabilizing Turkey.

"His loss is the loss of Turkey," Koru said.

I don't really know what to say, but that is just so sad. That is NOT what Turkey as a country needs right now. And being killed for his words! Just horrible.

Peace and tolerance

Every human life taken by another human for reason(s) of violence is a waste.

Maybe the killers of Dink belong to this group:

BRUSSELS - A Turkish nationalist group called "The Grandchildren of the Ottoman Empire" hacked into the website of the Belgian Ministry of Defense at midday on Sunday and posted a message declaring their dedication to Islam. In poor English, they voiced their support for the Turkish massacre of ethnic Armenians 90 years ago and also said that Kurdish separatist group PKK is a terrorist organisation. The Ministry site was taken offline at 1:30pm on Sunday and has since been reposted. 14/01/07 - Flandersnews.be

by sharing this piece of news with you,

my aim is not insulting my own citizens, Turks. my aim is to show that the
assasination was made by a tiny minority group who actually do not want a bright future for Turkey. as you see in the news Turkish people are sad for the Turkish Armenian journalist. The next step should be asking
who divided Turks
Armenians, Kurds, and Arabs who had lived together for centuries
and who made them enemies?

This could become quite the historical argument but the Osmans kept the Aremenians, Kurds and Arabs under rule by force. To suggest that these groups coexisted with each other (much less with turks) at any point in history without authoritarian control would not be correct.

i am sure it was much much much better than western colonialism in india, middle east, africa. also under the the ottoman history 600.000 people had not died because of oil war.

kaddersokak, don't misunderstand me.
Western colonialism is no better (if not worse). I personally have no issue on how the Osmans ruled. By most accounts, Istanbul was very open to Christians and Jews during Osman rule. I am only pointing out that the Kurds, Armenians and Arabs have always favored self-rule as opposed to outside rule, Osman or otherwise.

Since you asked, I've read nearly 20 books on the history of the Osmans. I have friends that have lineage to the Osmans for several hundred years. I have access to private, public and military libraries in Ankara, Istanbul and Edirne. I would never be so boastful as to call myself an expert. But for the purposes of this board, I think I am well informed. If you want to proclaim yourself smarter than me, so be it.
But since my statements really havent been very provacative, I would guess you may be a bit close-minded in your outlook.

Let me say that I am pro-turk, not necessarily pro-osman. Mismanagement in the 1800's caused the problems that led to the Young turk movement being necessary in the first place. I think Turkey should be governed exactly the way Ataturk outlined it.

That said, if the Armenians didnt want self-rule, they would not have allied with the Russians. The kurds to this day want self-rule as Ocalan and his band of thieves perform their evil.
The Arabs didnt need the British to fuel their hatred for the Turks. The British only gave the arabs the strength to resist.
Show me anywhere, in any book, where these peoples enjoyed being ruled by the Osmans.

unfortunately all kurds loves pkk http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/kultursanat/5792693.asp?m=1&gid=112&srid=3432&oid=3

trudy u dont know anything about of turkish problems u loving a kurdish men n only defance them read the site then u will understand

i dont speak more bcoz u dont know anything

This murder is no different than the murder done in Lubnan years ago... which was the aim to seperate Lubnan from Syria...

the aim is simple seperate and then bring democracy...

its really so sad to see that these old tricks are still working...

where is kurdistan? can u show me on the world?it never will be until the end of the world.

we call that area as South East Region of Turkey...

Clearly, in Cartel's words, we know nothing. It is pointless to debate the Kurdish "problem" on this forum. However, it is interesting to note the Turkish views.... very interesting

and i want to say everyone pls dont speak kurdistan here bcoz
u makes divisiveness n this is crime in turkey

Cartel whatever personal issues you have with Robyn, this is not the place to air them. Clearly you are letting your political beliefs be affected by your personal relationships! How sound

Cartel, maybe you shuld go to south eastern Anatolia and have a look around. Apart from the language spoken, it's not different than elsewhere in Turkey. And your comment about they don't speak turkish is a joke. It's the first thing they learn in school and many families try to teach it to their children when they are very young.

İYİ DİNLEYİN! TÃœRKİYE TÃœRKLERİNDİR TÃœRKLERİN KALICAK!
KİMSENİN GÃœCÃœ BU VATANI BÖLMEYE YETMEZ BUNU BÖYLE BİLİN.

how nice to see that the aim of those provacators are simply happening here in this forum as well...

i recommend you to please stop this nonsense discussion...
for sure this also will be another blocked topic...

Sui your pacifist, "say nothing, do nothing" attitude speaks volumes. If you don't like what is being written then why not express your opinion instead of sitting on the fence and accepting always the status quo?

n we r vry sad for hrat dink he is vry important person for turkey he always wanted goodness of turkey allah rahmet eylesin

Also I'd like to defend myself that the area is called Kurdistan in many other countries and it's been that for years and years, and you can in fact find maps with the name on it. My sister even had a project in school called "Kurdistan".

If old-fashioned nationalists can't handle it, it's not my problem. Denying its existance doesn't do any good, as we have seen in recent history.

Calling a geographical region "Kurdistan" is not negative or anti-turkish in any way, it's simply because of coneniency as the kurdish people is devided between Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria (roughly).

I'd not be surprised if it's only the countries in question who doesn't call it Kurdistan.

But anyhow, this is clearly the wrong place to discuss it, and if anyone have any further questions feel free to PM me.
I don't understand what all the fuss is about, I didn't even know that it's not called Kurdistan in Turkey nowadays. It's 2007 afterall.

Sui is obviously right about discussing politics here. Sad that it has to be that way, really.

You can discuss anything... i am not against to that...
But obviously you are having no more than fights here, instead of learning things from eachother...

i also didnt like the way CARTEL-please dont offend but what you are doing is wrong aswell- discusses it here...

and azade... here the word you used "Kurdistan" is known as a country is wanted to be set up in those region...
not as that where mostly Kurdish people live...

and i am sure you were aware of that... and you would better simply mention the city you were living...

I am not against the discussion... I am against to such nonsense discussions goes nowhere...
And i believe romantic poetry translations and those translation requests are much better that this...

I understand what you mean Sui. Maybe it was simply my mistake to think that after the relative peace on the subject along with kurdish culture and language being accepted more, it would be okay to say Kurdistan. Maybe in 10 years from now.

Anyway, back to the topic. I read in a Dutch forum that the police has arrested 8 people in this case but released them as well. In hurriyet there is an article including a picture of the possible perpetrator (I guess): http://www.haber7.com/haber.php?haber_id=213066

http://www.agos.com.tr/

you can find Hrant Dink's latest articles in this webpage. Unlike what you might have heard from western media, most of the Turkish people are very sad because he loved his country, Turkey, and Turkish people.He also supported Turkey's EU membership. However, both Turkish and Armenian ultra-nationalists or racists did not like him. unfortunately, those who do not want a bright future for Turkish people killed him. He was a big lost for his family, for the Armenian community in Turkey, and for all Turkish people.

I apologize for my last posting. I made a generalization based on what I heard on the BBC World News. It is good to hear that you know what most Turkish people feel about this incident.

thanks

no metter what his ideas were.no metter what kind of person he was. he was a voice and now someone took him from us.i condemn the murder.and i can realize it from my mail box even ultra nationalists in Turkey think the same.Rest in Peace Hrant.

HRANT DİNK writing about LIFE AND DEATH:

The thing they call "life and death"

What I all experienced was not an easy process... Neither for me nor for my family.

There were times when I seriously thought about leaving the country.

Especially at moments when the threats focused the ones close to me...

At that point I always remained helpless.

I was busy chatting to someone sitting very close to this newspaper building - he heard the shots and ran outside to see all. Thank u for giving more information on this website. I appreciate it very much. It is so sad for Turkey and the loved ones who needs to continue without him now.

According to Dutch television the police caught the assumed killer of Dink! He was arrested at the busstation of Samsun. His father had recognised him on TV and tipped the police. The boy - who is 17! - confessed later he murdered Dink.

TURKISH DIPLOMATS KILLED BY ARMENIAN TERRORISTS

http://www.ermenisorunu.gen.tr/english/diplomats/index.html


I hope these wont continue anymore..

best regards

Here you will find some information about how kindly behaved Turks toward Jews during Ottoman Period.

http://www.sephardicstudies.org/sultans1.html

we turks are strongly against the all kind of terrorism...Turkish ppl suffered from terrorism for ages...Many important ppl were killed by ASALA which is armenian terror organisation...

Metehan,
You are clearly not reading what I have written in my posts. I have clearly stated that the Osmans did tolerate other religions. I clearly said that for the most part, different cultures and religions thrived in Istanbul, particulary in Pera.
My point was that in the far points of the Osman Empire, (Egypt, Serbia, Armenia, Persia), the Osmans met resistence. This is my only point.