On January 19 at 5:00 p.m. in the evening, a 16-year old Turk by the name of Ogyun Samast murdered chief editor of the “Agos” weekly of Istanbul and Turkish-Armenian well-known activist Hrant Dink. The crime committed by the 16-year old teenager could either be considered a casualty or error if Dink were not to be in the center of attention of the international community during the past year. He became well-known for one simple reason: he had tried to go against Turkish laws and public opinion. In particular, he had been “careless” to criticize the Turkish national anthem where the Turks are considered a heroic nation and ethnic minorities are also obligated to sing that anthem. Dink had also criticized the oath of Turk students “I am a Turk, I am honest and hard-working” and the fact that every child must say that regardless of nationality. Finally, Dink had dared to speak about the Armenian Genocide with which the Turkish government was trying to sentence him based on the 301st article of the Turkish Criminal code entitled “Offense to the Turkish nation”. This was the same article with which Turkey was sentencing well-known Turk writer, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 Orhan Pamuk for speaking out about the one million Armenian victims of the Armenian Genocide.
In one of his interviews, Hrant Dink had said that Armenians need to stop treating the Turks as enemies because that poisons our blood. The Turks misinterpreted what the Armenian journalist/editor had said, claiming that the Turkish blood was poisonous or that the blood of the Turks is filthy. This was the reason why Dink turned into the target of Turk nationalists, which ended with the tragedy of January 19.
“I have never offended and never will offend the people of any country. An Armenian can never do such a thing. We don’t offend; rather we try to seek our rights. That’s exactly what I’m talking about; I’m trying to seek my rights, the rights of my ancestors.” In reality, Hrant Dink was highly respected by Turkey’s progressive, democratic powers because they understood that “Turkish-Armenian” relations and particularly the recognition of the Armenian Genocide is the issue of the Turks and Armenians and that shouldn’t become a speculative subject for great powers. Dink had said the following during a speech made in Frankfurt: “Europe played a major role in the tragedy of 1915 by speculating the Armenian Issue and still uses that for its purposes until today.”
Hrant Dink founded “Agos” in 1996 with the purpose of starting a dialogue not only with Turkish, but also Turkish-Armenian society. This is how he interpreted the purpose of his paper to “A1+”.
“Whereas before we used to send our message to Turkish authorities and state officials via envelopes and letters, now is the time to not only talk with them, but also the Turkish people. We can do that through the means of media and their language.”
The Turk-Armenian journalist was certain that the Armenian Genocide was going to be recognized and Turkey had to be under the pressure of Turkish society to recognize and not play the political games of Europe or the U.S. He was of the opinion that many Diasporan Armenians are blinded with hatred and are guided only by their feelings. “They believe that Turkey is incapable of changing, but everything changes in the world. You won’t solve the problem by slamming the door, rather the contrary,” said Hrant Dink.
In contrast to the Armenian activists of Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora, he was a supporter or, better yet advocate of Turkey’s European Union membership because he saw the issue of Armenians’ rights in the context of Turkey’s democratization. “I have lived in Turkey my entire life; it’s where I spent my childhood. I don’t believe in solutions with the application of force, rather I believe in dialogue. The talks regarding Turkey’s European Union membership should continue. That’s the best way to develop democracy in Turkey.”
Dink considered Europe’s rejection as the loss of the Turk democrats and in general the death of democracy in Turkey for that matter. Dink was worried that the consequences of that will be difficult for Armenia. “What will happen if Turkey is presumed within itself?” He believed that Turkey will not become democratic by recognizing the Armenian Genocide. According to him, the country must become democratic and the demand for democracy of the Turkish people must be the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the rights of Armenians. “The recognition of the Armenian Genocide of 1915 on the part of non-democratic Turkey won’t really do much for us Armenians.” The pressure from outside forces and the obligation can one day lead to Turkey’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide, but according to Hrant Dink, that “won’t change Turkish mentality much.”
Hrant Dink was rather unreserved regarding Armenia’s efforts to make the world recognize the Armenian Genocide and France’s approval of the bill penalizing anyone who denies the Armenian Genocide was simply unacceptable for someone who had been forced to face the Turkish court several times just for pronouncing the word “genocide”. Dink believed that instead of enforcing democratic values on Turkey, the French are making good use of the country’s wrong laws. “If this bill becomes a law, I will be one of the first people to go to France and try to violate it. Then let France and Turkey compete against each other to see which one will send me to jail first.”
As a journalist and editor, Dink extremely appreciated freedom of speech, even if the price for that freedom was to be considered an enemy by a considerable amount of people and, why not, even endanger his life. He had said several times that if the Turkish court didn’t reach a fair verdict, he would be forced to leave the country; but in his last article, which was published after his tragic assassination, he contradicted himself by saying the following: “Abandoning the “Fires of Hell” and going to “heaven” is not for me. I want to turn this Gahanna into heaven.”