Epress.am News from Armenia
If Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink’s 2007 murder is solved in its entirety, that would mean that Turkey has gone through a serious transformation in its judiciary, security and gendarmerie systems, says writer Tûba Çandar, whose 700-page biography of Hrant Dink’s life, “Hrant,” came out on Dink’s birthday in September of last year.
“Then we would see that there is a big leap forward on the way toward a transparent and democratic new Turkey. All citizens of Turkey would benefit from such a transformation. And Hrant’s soul would rejoice,” Çandar told Today’s Zaman for Monday Talk.
She added: “Hrant’s struggle has not ended. With its Ergenekon and Balyoz [Sledgehammer] cases, there is still need for Hrant’s energy in Turkey, which is trying to cleanse itself of such filth. That’s why we all try to keep Hrant alive.”
According to Çandar, keeping Dink alive means to ensure that justice has been done:
“In order for us to say Hrant Dink is alive, we first have to see that justice has not been denied to him. We have to see that Turkey does exactly what the European Court of Human Rights [ECtHR] ruling requires — except for paying the compensation.
Recall, there is a lengthy list of suspicious irregularities in the investigation into Dink’s murder, including deleted records and hidden files suggestive of an attempted police cover-up. The Dink family’s lawyers have said much of the evidence indicates that the murder could have been prevented.
Çandar noted that Hrant Dink was a “courageous and impressive voice” in Turkey.
“As an Armenian from Turkey, he not only raised his voice to protect the minority rights of the Armenian community, which was repressed and had no choice other than to be isolated, but he also spoke out as a ‘Türkiyeli’ [the term has a territorial meaning and it encompasses all ethnic-religious communities to replace the concept ‘Turkish’ which has an ethnic meaning] intellectual on all issues considered as taboo, from the ban on the headscarf to the Kurdish issue.
“Some people held grudges because he was doing all this as an Armenian. Remember, first and foremost Orhan Pamuk and Elif Şafak, and then the country’s well-known writers…, were being tried on the basis of Article 301, which restricts freedom of expression. However, those cases were somehow dismissed, and those trials ended. It was only Hrant Dink who was convicted of violating Article 301. And as the Supreme Court of Appeals approved the ruling of the court, Hrant was labeled an ‘Enemy of Turkey’ through media campaign. As he asked in his last article, ‘Doesn’t being an Armenian have a role in this?’”
Dink was shot dead by an ultranationalist teenager outside the offices of the Agos newspaper in İstanbul on Jan. 19, 2007. The investigation into his murder has stalled as the suspected perpetrator and his accomplices have been put on trial, but those who masterminded the plot to kill him have yet to be revealed.