"We are all Ogun Samasts"
by Suat Kinikloiglu
Today’s Zaman
Feb. 6, 2007
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Indeed, we are all Ogun Samasts — as well as Yasin Hayals and Erhan
Tuncels and all the unknown accomplices of the shameful assassination
of Hrant Dink. Yes, we are.
Only a curious skimming of our newspaper headlines since Jan. 19,
when Hrant was murdered, confirm that some part of this country’s
security bureaucracy feels that his murder was justified. The scandal
surrounding the filming and photographing of Ogun Samast in the
gendarmerie station and the unfolding skirmishes between the police and
the gendarmerie seem to have missed the primary point that should be
addressed. We are trying to identify who murdered Dink, not who leaked
the footage to whom and what is behind it. Every day new information
is emerging from the investigation into the Dink murder. This case
is likely to change the career paths of some of our bureaucrats,
be they governors or police chiefs.
It is most depressing that some members of the police and the
gendarmerie pride themselves on having been photographed with the
prime suspect in the Dink murder. I am sure dozens of explanations
will surface, but they simply will not fly with anyone. The fact
remains that these irresponsible officials disgraced our flag, the
founder of the Turkish Republic and the institutions they represent.
What is more troubling is that they have seriously undermined public
trust in the police and the gendarmerie. Also, it is very troubling to
see that while the four police officers in question have been removed
from their positions and will probably be charged, the four gendarmerie
officials were simply assigned to other locations. Why have they not
been held accountable and simply assigned to other cities? Why will
they not be charged for disgracing our flag or inciting hatred?
Prime Minister Erdogan astutely squared the Nationalist Movement
Party (MHP) with his comments on Saturday. In a most responsible and
courageous manner, the prime minister underlined that the "either
you love this country or you leave it" attitude exhibited by the
MHP is racist, exclusionary if not fascist. It is time that these
so-called nationalists are confronted publicly. For too long, this
sort of unacceptable political discourse has been passing without
a challenge.
I believe that the Dink murder and its aftermath has redrawn
the lines of our domestic politics in a most curious manner. The
principled stances of Prime Minister Erdogan and Foreign Minister
Gul on the Dink murder once again confirmed that Turkey’s
Muslim democrats, the AK Party, are the only potent force in this
country that can challenge the nationalist-conservative establishment.
Turkey’s Muslim democrats remain the only organized, ideologically
identifiable and motivated political force in this country that can
shepherd change in this country. The key issue here is that this is
also recognized by other progressive forces in this country. It is
in the interest of our democracy that Turkey’s liberals and true
leftists, who care about democratic change and not the status quo,
recognize this strategic fact and work towards an alignment rather
than being bogged down along the secular-Islamist divide. Needless
to say, a smart adjustment to some of the AK Party’s less popular
policies would even further ease this convergence.
This country and particularly its political elite have been seriously
shaken by the murder of Dink. These are difficult times for all of
us. We need to find the courage to separate ourselves from those who
applaud the murder of intellectuals. We need to support the Turkish
media’s persistent quest to unearth the truth behind the murder.
We need to stand up and shout loudly that we are not all Ogun Samasts
but are aspiring for a free, open and transparent Turkey where all
of us, regardless of our ethnic, religious or sectarian affiliations,
can prosper.