Author: Chmshkian Vicken

KAREKIN II CATHOLICOS: "SURB NERSES SHNORHALI" ORDERS GIVEN TO MIKAYEL
HAROUTIUNIAN AND SEYRAN OHANIAN

ETCHMIADZIN, JANUARY 29, NOYAN TAPAN. The Surb (Saint) Liturgy was
celebrated at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin on January 28 on the
occasion of the Army Day and 15th anniversary of the Armenian Army. The
Liturgy was celebrated by His Holiness Karekin II Supreme Patriarch and
Catholicos of All Armenians. The officiating priest at mass was Bishop
Ararat Galtagchian. As Noyan Tapan was informed by the Information
Services of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, an official reception
also took place at the Patriarchate during which the Catholicos of All
Armenians decorated RA Armed Forces Headquarters General Chief Colonel
General Mikayel Haroutiunian and NKR Defence Minister Lieutenant
General Seyran Ohanian with the "Surb Nerses Shnorhali" high orders of
honour of the Armenian Apostolic Surb (Saint) Church.

The New Anatolian, Turkey
Jan 27 2007

Gul reproves Douste-Blazy on French passage of Armenian bill

The New Anatolian / Paris
27 January 2007

Meeting with his French counterpart in Paris on Thursday, Foreign
Minister Abdullah Gul expressed criticisms and concerns about the
French Parliament’s passage of a bill last October to penalize people
who question the Armenian genocide claims.

"France is following the wrong path in relations with Turkey," Gul
told French Foreign Minister Douste-Blazy on the sidelines of the
International Donors Conference held in Paris. "The French
Parliament’s passage of the Armenian bill was in nobody’ interest."

Underlining the damage done to relations between Ankara and Paris by
the passage of the Armenian bill, Gul said, "Relations with France
could have been better."

The French Parliament voted last October in favor of an Armenian bill
that introduces prison terms of up to one year and fines of up to
45,000 euros to those who question the genocide claims. The bill must
be approved by both the other house of the French legislature and the
president in order to become a law.

Foreign Minister Gul also met with U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier
on the sidelines of the conference. While the latest developments in
Iraq and Lebanon and the fight against terrorism dominated Gul’s
talks with Rice, reconstruction efforts and further contributions by
Turkey and Germany to the development of Lebanon dominated Gul’s
talks with Steinmeier.

ARF Washington Sebouh Committee
AYF Washington Ani Chapter
ANC Greater Washington Chapter
4906 Flint Drive
Bethesda, MD 20816

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 24, 2007
Contact: Serouj Aprahamian
Email: [email protected]

Washington DC Area Armenian Americans Condemn Assassination of
Hrant Dink

Vigil at Turkish Embassy Calls for Armenian Genocide Recognition;
End to Repression of Free Speech in Turkey

WASHINGTON, DC Some 100 Armenian Americans from throughout the
Greater Washington DC area braved the snow and freezing
temperatures on Sunday, January 21, to honor slain Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink and call on the Turkish Government to end its
92 year international campaign of Armenian Genocide denial. The
vigil was organized the ARF Washington Sebouh Gomideh, ANC of
Greater Washington, and AYF Washington Ani Chapter.

The crowd gathered in front of the Turkish Embassy just two days
after Dink, a respected journalist and free speech advocate, was
gunned down outside his "Agos" newspaper office in Istanbul,
Turkey. Dink had long been persecuted by the Turkish government
for his calls for Armenian Genocide recognition, and was convicted
last year for "insulting Turkishness" under Turkey’s notorious
Article 301 law restricting free speech. Nobel prize winner Orhan
Pamuk, publisher Ragip Zarakolu and novelist Elif Shafak are just
some of the many writers who have also been prosecuted according to
the same repressive law.

During remarks at the vigil, AYF Ani Chapter chairman Serouj
Aprahamian stated, "Many are saying that Dink was killed by
ultranationalists who considered his statements to be insulting
Turkey’s honor and threatening its unity. But this is not just the
position of some so-called ‘ultranationalists’; it is the official
position of the Turkish government which prosecuted and condemned
Dink for his stance on the Armenian Genocide." Aprahamian
continued to note that,"It is the shameless policy of Genocide
denial perpetrated by Ankara which is the real problem and that is
what we must continue to fight against."

Other speakers at the vigil included ANCA Executive Director Aram
Hamparian and Father Sarkis Aktavoukian, pastor of the Soorp Khatch
Armenian Church, who led the vigil participants in prayer in memory
of Dink. In a statement issued immediately upon news of Dink’s
assassination, Hamparian noted that, ""Hrant Dink’s murder is
tragic proof that the Turkish government – through its campaign of
denial, threats and intimidation against the recognition of the
Armenian Genocide – continues to fuel the same hatred and
intolerance that initially led to this crime against humanity more
than 90 years ago."

Earlier on Sunday, Fr. Aktavoukian had held a special requiem
service in memory of Hrant Dink at Soorp Khatch Church.

#####

Photo Caption:

Photo1.jpg: Washington DC area Armenian Americans urge Turkish
government to end international genocide denial campaign in wake of
Dink assassination.

Photo2.jpg: Armenian Americans protest Article 301 and 305
repression of free speech restrictions, under which Dink was
prosecuted prior to his murder.

Permission of NKR authorities needed for sending mission to Karabakh

PanARMENIAN.Net
24.01.2007 19:14 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The permission of the NKR authorities is the only
one essential for sending a mission meant for establishment of trust
in Karabakh, said RA MFA Acting Spokesman Vladimir Karapetian when
responding to PanARMENIAN.Net reporter’s question. In his words,
Yerevan closely watches the latest initiatives led by Mr Mingarelli,
the director of the EU office for Eastern Europe, South Caucasus
and Central Asia "The RA Foreign Ministry expects the projects under
discussion to lead to peaceful agreement. We give a positive estimation
to Europe’s engagement in the region, specifically the EU’s interest
in the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict," Karapetian said.

Earlier, EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus said that
the EU is ready to send a mission to Nagorno Karabakh if Baku issues
an appropriate permission.

International Herald Tribune, France
Jan 21 2007

Turkish police arrest teenager in killing of newspaper editor

By Susanne Fowler
Published: January 21, 2007

ISTANBUL: A 17-year-old suspect was being held Sunday under heavy
security in the shooting death of Hrant Dink, a Turkish journalist of
Armenian descent, a killing that has intensified the debate here on
the sensitive topics of national identity and freedom of expression
during an important election year.

The suspect, Ogun Samast, was captured Saturday night after his
father recognized him from a surveillance camera photo shown by the
media and alerted the authorities. Samast was arrested at the main
bus station in the Black Sea coast city of Samsun, apparently on his
way to his hometown of Trabzon. At least 12 other people were
reportedly detained in Trabzon, and several were brought to Istanbul
on Sunday for questioning, news reports said. Samast was being held
at the Istanbul Police Headquarters in the Aksaray neighborhood.

According to the state-run Anatolia news agency, the chief
prosecutor, Ahmet Cokcinar, said Sunday that Samast was caught in
possession of the gun used to kill Dink and had confessed to the
brazen daylight attack. Dink, 52, the editor of the weekly bilingual
newspaper Agos, was shot three times in the neck and head as he left
work on a busy commercial avenue Friday.

In his confession, according to the Dogan News Agency, Samast told
the police that he had been reading Dink’s columns via the Internet
from Trabzon and did not like what he was reading and so "decided to
kill him."

He reportedly had requested a meeting with Dink but was turned down.

"I would do it again," Samast was quoted as saying. "I have no
regrets."

Commentators on Sunday were speculating that because the suspect is a
minor, he might have been influenced by someone who knew that a teen
would face a lesser sentence if caught.

The killing shocked this mostly Muslim nation and sent thousands of
furious Turks into the streets during the weekend, waving placards
and chanting, "We are all Armenians!"

That statement is especially poignant in Turkey, where calling
someone an Armenian is often considered an insult.

Turkey and Armenia, which share a border but have no diplomatic ties,
are at odds over Turkey’s refusal to use the term "genocide" to
describe the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians beginning
in 1915. Turkey says the deaths resulted from war as the Ottoman
Empire was crumbling and that many Turks also were killed.

Some Turks have begun to feel betrayed by the European Union, which
recently froze sections of the accession talks over issues related to
Cyprus.

"This killing is an ultimate result of increasing nationalism,
isolationism and animosity toward minorities that the European Union
fueled in its handling of Turkey’s membership process," Can Baydarol,
a European Union expert said. "If the EU pushes Turkey even further
after this tragic incident, this would serve the interests of the
extremist circles that Mr. Dink was in constant struggle with."

Esra Uras, of the Liberal European Association, a pro-EU group, said
that while the violence could dent Turkey’s chances of eventual EU
membership, "the government had actually handled the situation after
the murder very well."

Uras was among the thousands of marchers in Taksim Square after the
killing.

"We were all on the street shouting that ‘We were all Dink’ and for
the first time the politicians showed leadership in such a crisis
situation by joining in and becoming part of the group."

"It must be clear," she said, "that Hrant Dink was someone who was
really criticized by both Turks and Armenians, but from the point of
view of freedom of speech and thought, this has sparked a new
solidarity."

There were others who said that Dink’s legacy might be one of
reconciliation between feuding Turks and Armenians.

Sevan Sarafian, 39, was one of about 30 Turkish-Armenians attending
the regular Sunday morning service at the Church of the Three Altars
next to central Istanbul’s fish bazaar and one of 41 Christian
Armenian churches serving the estimated 60,000 ethnic Armenians that
remain in Turkey.

"When Dink was killed, I was so upset because he was a symbol of out
community," said Sarafian, who runs a silver shop nearby. "Like any
philosopher, Dink said things that I agreed with and things that I
didn’t agree with. But when all those people turned out to march
after he was killed, I felt so happy to hear everyone say they were
Armenian."

"For Turkish Muslims to call themselves Armenians is really a major
change," he said. "I hope it continues to bring the two communities
much closer to work out their differences."

The capture of a suspect was good news, Sarafian said, but it was
just a beginning.

"I will be much happier if they catch the people who put him up to
it," he said. "I have many ideas about who that might be but I
wouldn’t like to say what those are."

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a news conference
Saturday that the investigators were checking whether Samast had any
ties to another Trabzon teenager who was convicted last year in the
shooting death of Andrea Santoro, a Catholic priest in that city.

Turkish media also reported that Samast was a friend of another young
man from Trabzon who served 11 months in prison for bombing a
McDonald’s restaurant there in 2004.

Dink had long been surrounded by controversy. He was in and out of
court for years, charged with insulting Turkishness, which is a crime
under Article 301 of the Turkish penal code.

He was convicted in 2005 and the conviction was upheld on appeals in
2006 but his six-month sentence was suspended.

The Nobel Prize winning Turkish novelist Orhan Pamuk was charged
under the same law for his comments about Armenia but his case was
dropped. The Milliyet daily newspaper reported Sunday that Pamuk was
now under police protection.

Ilter Turan, a professor at Istanbul Bilgi University, said that the
killing would perhaps mark the start a new wave of democratic
reforms.

"The massive reactions against Dink’s killing tell us that people are
not proud of the extremism that prepared the grounds for this
unfortunate event," Turan said.

"At every level of the society, there is a desire to ease the
international consequences of this event, which could trigger another
wave of reforms in Turkey."

Meanwhile, the site of Dink’s killing has become a shrine, with
flowers and posters and visits by grieving friends and politicians in
this election year for Turkey.

Deniz Baykal, head of the opposition Republican People’s Party, known
in Turkey by the acronym CHP, and an Erdogan rival, paid a highly
publicized visit to the offices of Dink’s newspaper Saturday.

Later that night, Erdogan held a nationally broadcast news conference
to say how glad he was that the suspect had been caught prior to
Dink’s funeral on Tuesday.

But Erdogan also said that he would not attend the rites because of a
prior commitment to join the former EU president and current prime
minister of Italy, Romando Prodi, in the city of Bolu for the opening
ceremony for a Turkish- Italian tunnel construction project.

For Sarafian, the silver seller, the Turkish-Armenian conflict cuts
to the core of his own identity issues.

"When we are in Turkey, we are considered Armenians even though we
were born here," he said. "But when we travel outside of Turkey, we
use Turkish passports and we are not Armenians any more: We live our
lives between the two identities."

Sebnem Arsu contributed reporting for this article.

Turkish Daily News
January 19, 2007 Friday

PARLIAMENT REJECTS CENSURE AGAINST GUL

Parliament yesterday discussed a censure motion, submitted by the
center-right Motherland Party (ANAVATAN), accusing Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul of neglecting his duties. The Justice and Development
Party (AKP) majority in Parliament ensured that the proposal to
discuss the motion was rejected in Parliament.

Addressing Parliament, ANAVATAN group deputy Chairman Suleyman
Saribas expressed his view that Turkey’s current foreign policy had
reached a point where it was a "threat to the national integrity of
the country." Saribas slammed government policies in Cyprus, northern
Iraq and the European Union, adding that the government was
incompetent in addressing the Armenian question. "Why didn’t we cut
off diplomatic ties with those countries which recognized the
Armenian genocide," Saribas asked Parliament members during his
speech.

Saribas also claimed that the government slammed into a wall in the
EU process. "Well, thanks to you, now the nation is repulsed by the
EU. You have isolated Turkey." Current foreign policy brought us to
this point: Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) Istanbul deputy Onur
Oymen, speaking on behalf of his group said the government was facing
breaking points in all aspects of foreign policy. "Those breaking
points have unfortunately brought Turkey to this point. Similar
mistakes were made in Cyprus. Alarming developments are taking
place," Oymen told the deputies.

Agence France Presse — English
January 19, 2007 Friday

Armenia condemns journalist Dink’s killing

YEREVAN, Jan 19 2007

Armenia condemned the killing in Istanbul on Friday of
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, saying it was "deeply
shocked."

"We are deeply shocked by the news of the assassination of
Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, a man who lived his life in
the belief that there can be understanding, dialogue and peace
amongst peoples," said Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian.

"We categorically condemn this act regardless of the circumstances
and call on the Turkish authorities to do everything to identify
those responsible," he said in a statement.

Dink, who was shot dead outside his office, had attracted the wrath
of the Turkish judiciary and nationalist circles for his remarks
drawing attention to the killings of Armenians under the Ottoman
Empire, Turkey’s predecessor, during World War I.

He always insisted that he was a citizen of Turkey and would never
work against his country.

Armenian President Robert Kocharian also condemned the killing and
sent his condolences to Dink’s family.

"The killing of this well-known Armenian journalist in Turkey raises
numerous questions and deserves the strongest condemnation,"
Kocharian was quoted by his press secretary, Viktor Sogomonian, as
saying.

"We hope that the Turkish authorities will do everything possible to
find and punish the culprit strictly in accordance with the law."

Armenia and Turkey have had no diplomatic relations since this
country declared independence in 1991. The Ottoman-era killings of
Armenians is one of the main obstacles to closer ties.

icBerkshire, UK
Jan 19 2007

Visa battle goes on for Aremenian wife of disabled man

Jan 19 2007

A DISABLED man and his Armenian wife – currently separated by
thousands of miles – have found themselves in a ‘catch 22’ situation
as Home Office rules threaten their dreams of being together.

Keith and Svetlana Ackrill – who made their home together in St
Chad’s Road, Maidenhead – are now facing an uncertain future after
Armenian native Svetlana’s application for a spouse’s visa hit a
snag.

Svetlana – who was acting as a carer for Keith after he previously
suffered a stroke and who is now paralysed down one side – flew back
to Armenia last week on a one-way ticket, paid for by the Home
Office.

She returned only after the couple were told that she must go back to
Armenia to apply for the spouse’s visa, which would allow her to
remain with Keith, 61, in the UK.

However, the couple have been told that, under immigration rules,
they need to prove that they can support themselves without recourse
to public funds.

Bank statements submitted by the couple as part of the application
have been deemed ‘insufficient’ and now Svetlana, 50, who is a
qualified nurse, has been asked to show the British embassy in
Yerevan proof not just of her qualifications but also of job offers
in the UK.

Keith said the Home Office told the couple nothing of this before
Svetlana left the UK and he has now been frantically phoning around
nursing and care homes in the hope of finding Svetlana a job.

However, things are not proving easy as he told the Express: "I have
come to a full stop.

"It seems everyone would like to meet her or she needs a national
insurance number."

Keith added: "If we’d known before, Svetlana would have got a job
before she went back."

Since Svetlana’s departure Keith – who said he was told that his
wife’s care had saved the NHS thousands of pounds – has refused to
apply for care.

Relatives are dropping by to see that Keith is alright but he told
the Express: "All of this is making me so ill."

The couple met over the internet and wed in Armenia on Christmas Day
2003 and Svetlana made preparations to come to the UK and began the
process of applying for a spouse’s visa.

However, Keith became ill and Svetlana put the application on hold to
rush to England on a visitor visa so she could care for him.

Maidenhead MP Theresa May has now pledged to contact the Home Office
to ask them to look at the Ackrills’ case again.

She told the Express: "I think they have been given the runaround and
I will be getting back in touch with the Home Office."

The Home Office told the Express that they do not comment on
individual cases.

Nouvelles St-Laurent, Canada
Jan 20 2007

Yvan Bordeleau comments on his departure after 18 years of political
life

Yvan Bordeleau explained the reasons which led to his decision to
leave politics. (Photo: Martin Alarie) Yvan Bordeleau comments on his
departure after 18 years of political life

The next provincial election, which should take place this year, will
coincide with the departure of l’Acadie Member of the National
Assembly (MNA) Yvan Bordeleau, who will not seek a fifth mandate.
"I will be 65 years old next month and age became a factor to be
considered before continuing," he said during an interview at his
district office, last Tuesday.

"Since a mandate can last five years, I decided to move on to other
things, because the requirements related to the role of MNA could
become too demanding to assume at age 70, such as frequent and
extended travel, parliamentary functions and activities for the
district and the party," explained Bordeleau, who made his decision
during the holidays surrounded by his family.

The former teacher, who also directed the department of psychology at
the University of Montreal, will take his retirement after 18 years
of political life to devote his time to personal and family projects,
such as travelling with his wife Louise.
Plans for the future
The l’Acadie MNA, who was first elected on September 25, 1989, will
remain in his position until the dissolution of the National
Assembly. Then, he hopes to have a few months of freedom and
pleasure.
"I will have time to do activities, to travel which I put off, and
being more available to my family," said Bordeleau, who is father of
two children and grandfather of four.

Bordeleau does not plan on remaining inactive for long. He will
however have a certain period to become accustomed to his new
freedom, without professional obligation. "It is clear that I will
not sit at home with nothing to do," he said. "I could turn to
teaching, to writing, to sit on a board of directors or to become a
consultant."
Fighting prejudice
In addition, the MNA expressed an important wish for the future of
Quebec before retiring, that is to develop the image of politicians.
"I deeply regret that the work of MNAs is not better appreciated and
is not judged more objectively, because they deserve certainly a more
equitable treatment and a respect of the population in general," he
said.
Bordeleau is disappointed about the perceptions which people have of
politics. He feels that the negative image conveyed towards
politicians is detrimental to the recruitment of candidates. "It will
be very difficult in the future to attract citizens to assume
demanding political responsibilities, which is however fundamental
for the life of our democracy, that we too often take for granted,"
he said.

Bordeleau recalls that, two days after the advertisement of his
candidacy in politics, the word gangster was written on one of his
electoral signs. "The general public however did not know me, because
I was the director of the psychology department of the University of
Montreal at the time," said Bordeleau as he illustrated the contempt
and cynicism which still exists today. "As a candidate, I was the
same person, with the same values, but I was identified with
gangsters."

Bordeleau also feels that the stereotype that politicians are only
visible in election campaign forms part of the prejudices that are
baseless. His solution is to make known the work in the district and
the parliamentary role of MNAs, the tasks which he describes as
"diversified and demanding." Despite everything, he is grateful
towards his voters, who allowed him to live an "enriching experience"
in this particular setting, where one must convince people, while
being realistic and persevering.

Bordeleau finds it difficult to leave colleagues with whom he
developed bonds of friendship with the passing of years. He dedicates
much admiration to Liberal Prime Ministers whom he worked with,
namely Robert Bourassa, Daniel Johnson Jr. and Jean Charest, "for the
sacrifices which this function requires". He also pays homage to
Claude Ryan, "an exceptional person to whom I was very close and who
taught me a lot," the l’Acadie MNA said.
Political legacy
Of his own consent, Yvan Bordeleau leaves with the feeling of
accomplishment, having succeeded in answering many different needs.
"My only promise was to do the utmost to help people," he said. "I
think that it was a good way of working. At least, I believe that in
general people of the district appreciated my approach, since they
attested to their confidence in me with four elections."
Among his achievements, the MNA is proud of the bill recognizing the
Armenian genocide. "It was not easy to carry out," said Bordeleau.
"The subject was delicate and there was a certain opposition from
Turkey."

He also notes his participation in the arrival of Technoparc Saint-
Laurent. "At the time, Robert Bourassa had asked me to take charge of
this bill," he said. "One now notes the important place of this
industrial sector in the Quebec economy."

To succeed him, he wishes for a person to be as present, close and
available as he was for citizens. He also foresees challenge in the
revitalization of the Chabanel sector into a more modern area with
fewer dwellings. Only the future will say if its vision will be
carried out. (Translated by Michael Beigleman)

GIBRAHAYER
e-magazinehttp://gibrahayer.cyprusnewsl etter.com
The largest circulation Armenian e-magazine
Circulates every Wednesday
Established in 1999

HRANT DINK SHOT DEAD IN BOLIS

Jan 19 (Reuters) – A Turkish-Armenian editor, who had been convicted
of insulting Turkey’s identity over his comments on Armenians, was
shot dead outside his newspaper office in Istanbul on Friday.

Turkish broadcaster NTV said Hrant Dink, a controversial writer and
journalist, was shot by an unknown assailant as he left his newspaper
Agos around 1300 GMT in central Istanbul.

A colleague of Dink’s confirmed he had died. Police released no
further information.

Last year Turkey’s appeals court upheld a six-month suspended jail
sentence against Dink, a Turkish-born Armenian, for referring in an
article to an Armenian nationalist idea of ethnic purity without
Turkish blood.

The court said the comments went against an article of Turkey’s
revised penal code which lets prosecutors pursue cases against
writers and scholars for "insulting Turkish identity."

Dink was one of dozens of writers who have been charged under laws
against insulting Turkishness, particularly over issues related to an
alleged genocide of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War One.

Turkey denies genocide was committed.

The government has promised to revise the much criticised article of
the penal code. The European Union has repeatedly called on Ankara to
change the law.

Dink was editor-in-of chief of the bilingual Turkish and Armenian
weekly Agos.

www dot bbc dot co dot uk – The Turkish-Armenian writer and journalist Hrant
Dink has been shot dead, Turkish media report. Dink, the high-profile editor
of newspaper Agos, was shot three times outside its offices in Istanbul, the
paper said. Dink was one of the writers who had been prosecuted under
Turkey’s strict laws against "insulting Turkishness".
He was given a six-month suspended sentence in October 2005 after writing
about the Armenian "genocide" of 1915.
Hundreds of thousands of Armenians died at the time, in what many Armenians
say was a systematic massacre at the hands of the Ottoman Turks.
Turkey denies any genocide, saying the deaths were a part of World War I.
Dink, 53, had received threats from nationalists who viewed him as a
traitor, the Associated Press news agency reported.
He was a public figure in Turkey – one o f its most prominent Armenian
voices.
He once gave an interview with the Associated Press in which he cried while
describing the hatred some Turks had for him, saying he could not stay in a
country where he was unwanted.

Bolis – Turkey (CNN) – A prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist who spoke out
against the killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire early last century
was shot to death Friday, according to CNN Turk.
Hrant Dink, 53, editor of the Armenian-Turkish language weekly Agos
newspaper, was shot dead in front of the Istanbul publication as he was leaving.
Authorities are looking into a lead that he was shot four times by a young
man who appeared to be 18 or 19 years old.
Described as a "well-known commentator on Armenian affairs," Dink has faced
a number of cases in connection with "insulting" the Turkish state for his
writings.
"Some of the trial hearings have been marred by violent scenes inside and
outside the courtrooms, instigated by nationalist activists calling for Dink to
be punished," said a profile on the Web site of Pen American Center — the
writers’ group that promotes free expression.
Agos, an Armenian-Turkish language weekly, was established in 1996.
Pen’s profile said that in 2005, Dink "had been charged for an article
published in Agos in which he discussed the impact on present day Armenian diaspora
of the killings of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by the Ottoman army in
1915-17."
This is a hot-button issue in the region, Pen notes.
Armenians and other countries regard the killings of Armenians in the early
20th century as a a genocide, a claim rejected by the Turkish government,
which says Armenians and Turks were killed in civil warfare.
Dink was one of the most prominent voices of Turkey’s shrinking Armenian
community.
A Turkish citizen of Armenian descent, he had received threats from
nationalists, who viewed him as a traitor.
In an earlier interview with The Associated Press, Dink had cried 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.
Private NTV television said police were searching for the suspected
murderer, believed to be a teenager wearing a white hat and a denim jacket, but the
identity and motivation of the shooter were unknown, AP reported.
Dink’s body could be seen covered with a white sheet in front of the
newspaper’s entrance. NTV said four empty shell casings were found on the ground and
that he was killed by two bullets to the head.
Fehmi Koru, a columnist at the Yeni Safak newspaper, said the murder was
aimed at destabilising Turkey.
"His loss is the loss of Turkey," Koru said.