Canadian-Armenians Condemn the Assassination

January 19, 2007
Armenian National Committee of Canada
E-mail:national.office@anc-canada.com
For Immeditate Release
Contact: Kevork Manguelian Tel. (613) 235-2622

Ottawa—Outspoken and well-known Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was assassinated in front of his weekly newspaper office today. He was shot four times by a young man. Dink's body could be seen covered with a white sheet at the entrance of the newspaper building.

Hrant Dink, publisher and editor of Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, faced number of legal cases for openly speaking about the Genocide of Armenians in 1915. Dink was given a six-month suspended sentence in October 2005 after writing about the Armenian Genocide. He was one of the most prominent voices of Turkey's dwindling Armenian community.


Dink, 53, a Turkish citizen of Armenian descent, had received threats from nationalists who viewed him as a traitor, the Associated Press news agency reported.

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Dink wept as he talked about some of his fellow countrymen's hatred for him, saying he could not stay in a country where he was unwanted.

Workers at the newspaper, including Dink's brother, who has also been put on trial in Turkey, were in tears as they consoled each other near Dink’s body.

Can Dundar, Dink's friend and fellow journalist, said he wished Dink had left the country as he had once promised.

“The assassinated journalist had complained in a letter that he had received no response from authorities after he had told them about threats of violence made against him,” the Turkish TV network NTV reported.

A colleague at Dink's newspaper, Aydin Engin, said Dink had attributed the threats to elements in the "deep state," a Turkish term that implies shadowy, deeply nationalist and powerful elements in the government.

Upon hearing of Dink’s assassination, Fatma Muge Gocek, a Turkish author, historian, and a friend of Dink, said: “ [we] have lost such a warm, compassionate friend with a great zest for life who believed so fervently in the goodness of humankind. Dink spent his unfortunately short life to get Turkey to reconcile with its past and paid for his efforts with his life. The dark forces in Turkey took him out but what he has instilled in all of us will not be quenched: we all will keep him alive.”

Reporters Without Borders said it was deeply shocked by the murder of Hrant Dink “This murder will distress and disturb all those who defend the freedom of thought and expression in Turkey and elsewhere,” the press freedom organisation said.

Aris Babikian, the executive director of the Armenian National Committee of Canada, held the Turkish Government responsible for the politically motivated assassination. “Successive Turkish Governments’ Armenian Genocide denial policy and the rewriting of history fanned flames of hatred against Armenians,” Babikian said.

“In a country where the educational system and the political culture mould the minds of the people with hatred towards ethnically non-Turkish citizens and where racist and extreme right-wing organizations occupy a place of power, this is a sad reminder that things haven’t changed much in Turkey since 1915. This vile murder proves once again that racism has deep roots in Turkey,” added ANCC’s executive director.

“Silencing Hrant Dink proves once again that the genocidal mentality in Turkey still prevails and the Turkish Government is not interested in reconciling with the Armenian people and in atoning for its crimes against Armenians. The Turkish Government should come clean and once and for all recognize the Armenian Genocide and put an end to the cycle of hatred,” concluded the Executive Director.