Thousands of people gathered in front of the Agos newspaper in Istanbul on Wednesday, 19 January, to commemorate Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. The founder of the Armenian Agos weekly was lethally shot in front of his office in Şişli (Istanbul) on 19 January 2007 at around 3.00 pm.
Friends of Dink demanded once more to shed light on the assassination of Hrant Dink and other unsolved political murders and reiterated their demand for justice.
Many attendants of the ceremony left red carnations and lit candles at the place Dink was killed. They carried sings featuring slogans like "No justice in 4 years", "No parliament in 4 years". They chanted the slogans "We are all Hrant Dink", "Justice for "Hrant Dink" and "The people will call the murderers to account".
Dink's memory of Mrs Beatris
Groups who had gathered at Taksim Square and in Mecidiyeköy started walking towards the Agos newspaper office in Şişli at 1.30 pm. A third group joined by artist Mustafa Alabora walked from the Taksim district to the Armenian weekly.
Nükhet İpekçi, daughter of killed journalist Abdi İpekçi, delivered a speech from the balcony of the newspaper office. Dink's widow Rakel Dink greeted the crowd from a window. The street was closed to traffic because of the commemoration ceremony.
The ceremony started with a playback of Hrant Dink's voice. In the recording, Dink described his memories of 70-year-old Mrs Beatris who used to come from France to her abandoned village. Dink recalled a conversation with her daughter after Mrs Beatris' death, when she had come to Sivas to collect her mother's body.
The son of Mrs Beatris had told Dink on the phone that it would be the most natural thing to bury their mother's body right there. After Dink had summarized the conversation, he said, "Yes, the Armenians do have an eye on that land because our roots are there. We have an eye on it but not to go and cease it but to reach its base".
Speech of Nükhet İpekçi
Also members of the Platform for Social Conscience established by the families of people killed in unsolved political murders attended the ceremony. Nükhet İpekçi delivered a speech on behalf of the relatives of Kemal Türkler, Ahmet Kaya, Sabahattin Ali, Orhan Yavuz, Doğan Öz, Necdet Bulut, Akın Özdemir, Abdi İpekçi, Cevat Yurdakul, Cavit Orhan Tütengil, Ümit Kaftancıoğlu, Sevinç Özgüner, Mehmet Zeki Tekiner, İlhan Erdost, Metin Göktepe, Necip Hablemitoğlu, Yusuf Ekinci, Yasemin Cebenoyan, Onat Kutlar, Hasan Ocak, Muammer Aksoy, Çetin Emeç, Turan Dursun, Musa Anter, Uğur Mumcu, Nesimi Çimen, Behçet Aysan and Metin Altıok
İpekçi, daughter of the General Publications Director of the Milliyet daily, Abdi İpekçi, reminded Hrant Dink's statement "I do not like portrait sculptures, I like people". She demanded to disclose the fact behind the unsolved political murders as soon as possible. "We are after every single murder. Every single one of these murders is known as a crime against humanity. We expect justice to be dispensed as soon as possible", she said.
Petition for the investigation of 31 people
The joint attorneys of the Dink family emphasized that they submitted a petition two days earlier to demand an investigation about 31 people. The commemoration ceremony was attended by writer Vedat Türkali, writer Adalet Ağaoğlu, Ahmet Kaya's widow Gülten Kaya, writer Sırrı Süreyya Önder, writer Oral Çalışlar, DİSK General President Süleyman Çelebi, artists Mehmet Ali Alabora, Mustafa Alabora, Ferhat Tunç, Zeynep Tanbay, Haluk Levent, Yavuz Bingöl, EMEP Chairman Levent Tüzel, Nilgün Türkler as the daughter of slain DİSK President Kemal Türkler, CHP İstanbul MPÇetin Soysal, CHP Deputy Chairman Umut Oran, BDP Deputies Sebahat Tuncel and Akın Birdal and ÖDP Chairman Alper Taş.
Many of the attendants of the ceremony will gather again on 7 February at 10.00 am in front of the Beşiktaş (Istanbul) Courthouse prior to that day's hearing of the Hrant Dink murder case. Hrant Dink was also commemorated by a torchlight walk from Takism to Galata Square (central Istanbul) in the evening of 19 January. (BB/EÖ/VK)
