An Assassination Shocks а NATO member

[DP]

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/ ... nn-partner

In one of Turkey's most violent nationalist attacks in recent years, journalist Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian and one of the country's leading voices for reconciliation between Turks and Armenians, was shot dead in front of his office Friday. No group has yet claimed responsibility for Dink's murder, which has shocked Turks. Hundreds of mourners gathered in Istanbul's city center to protest the killing; politicians condemned the attack and the Istanbul Stock Exchange plunged several points. "A bullet has been fired at democracy and freedom of expression. I condemn the traitorous hands behind this disgraceful murder," said Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan.

Dink had been a frequent target of Turkish nationalist rage for his comments on the mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians died in 1915, in what many Armenians say was a systematic massacre at the hands of the Ottoman Turks. Turkey however denies any genocide, saying that the deaths were part of a partisan conflict in which thousands of Turks were also killed. Even discussing the Armenian deaths was for many years taboo in Turkey but recently there have been stirrings of public debate as Ankara strives to bring the country in line with European Union norms. That same process of EU accession however, has also triggered a growing frenzy of nationalist sentiment, that has gained strength ahead of elections later this year as politicians of all stripes play the populist card, buoyed in their insularity by the less than enthusiastic reception given Ankara in Europe.

In an article last week, Dink wrote that he felt "nervous and afraid" because of the intensity of the hate mail and threats he was receiving. "I see myself as frightened, the way a dove might be, but I know that the people in this country would never harm a dove," he wrote. Dink was the editor of the Istanbul-based Agos, a weekly newspaper published in Turkish and Armenian. He was a tireless campaigner for better relations between Turks and Armenians, who share a troubled history. [Turkey and neighbouring Armenia still have no official relations.]

A soft-spoken, gregarious and often emotional man, Dink was well-respected among Turkey's literati for his consistently non-partisan approach to the Armenian issue. Despite being repeatedly hauled before the courts on charges like "insulting Turkishness" (the latest incarnation of an older anti-free speech law), he was always optimistic. "I would never consider living anywhere else," he told this writer on several occasions. "This is my country."

In July, Turkey's appeals court upheld a suspended six-month sentence against Dink for an article he wrote on the collective memory of the massacres. He had been convicted on charges of "insulting Turkishness" — similar charges were brought, and later dropped, against Nobel prize-winning novelist Orhan Pamuk last year. In September, an Istanbul prosecutor filed yet another suit against Dink, seeking three years for describing the killings as genocide in an interview. Dink said in that interview: "Of course, I say this is a genocide. Because the result itself identifies what it is and gives it a name. You can see that people who have been living on these lands for 4,000 years have disappeared. This is self-explanatory." Responding to news of the assassination, Cem Ozdemir, a German Turk and Green Party member of Bundestag: "This is a hard blow for everyone who stands for peace, understanding and coming to terms with Turkey's past."

[Golyadkin]

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