As the Hrant Dink murder trial began yesterday, around a thousand journalists, writers, human rights activists and members of the Armenian community turned up in front of the court building in İstanbul, both in support of the Dink family, and in support of a call to a transparent investigation and judicial process. They carried signs saying "We are still all Hrant, we want justice".

Amnesty International and RSF

Andrew Gardner, Amnesty International Turkey desk researcher, was also present. He said he had asked to attend the trial as an observer, but his application had been rejected.

He reiterated his call for Article 301 to be removed. He also demanded that authorities condemn these kind of murders and conduct an effective investigation.

Elsa Vidal, Europe representative of Reporters without Borders (RSF), is also watching the trial. She said: "Hrant Dink met the worst violation a journalist can experience; it is impossible for us not to follow this trial. The Turkish people should have been proud of Dink and should have protected him. Now, authorities must expose all the parts of the chain and punish those responsible most severely."

More international than national interest

There were also journalists of AFP, Reuters, the BBC, and US, German and Swiss newspapers at the court building.

Despite the international interest in the case, many of the Turkish mainstream newspapers had virtually ignored the start of the trial in their 2 July issues.

If one looked at the front pages of Hürriyet, Milliyet or Zaman, there was no mention of the trial. While the former two mentioned the trial on later pages, the religious Zaman newspaper did not cover it at all.

The Radikal newspaper covered the Dink trial and Yasin Hayal's letter on the front page, as did several other newspapers. (TK/EÖ/EÜ/AG)