Killing of Armenian Turkish journalist Hrant Dink a year ago in Istanbul, Turkey, proves no watershed.
The Turkish journalist of ethnic Armenian origin Hrant Dink was assassinated in front of the offices of his Istanbul newspaper a year ago by an ultra-nationalist Turkish minor. Images of his body lying on the street shocked the country. One year ago, hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated for a more open and tolerant Turkey on the day of his funeral.
After the mass demonstrations many Turks believed that a turnaround had taken place. They believed that the average citizens’ feelings of revulsion to the tragic killing of Dink would make Turkey a better country. They hoped the Turkish people would demand more democracy and freedom.
Has Turkey become a better country? The answer is no. Nationalist Turks still despise Armenians, who they consider traitors. Armenian institutions in Istanbul still receive hate mail. A song which glorified the killing of Dink quickly became a hit on the internet.
Attacks against Christians in Turkey
It is not only the Armenian minority that continues to suffer. The year 2007 saw a series of attacks against Christians. The most shocking occurred in the city of Malatya, where people who printed bibles had their throats cut.
Dink is said to have become a target because of his conviction by the authorities under Article 301, which makes "insulting Turkishness" a punishable offence. He was convicted for using the word genocide to describe the mass killings of Armenians in 1915. The Turkish government has repeatedly promised to abolish Article 301, but it still remains on the books.
Complicity
An even more painful blot on Turkey's democracy is that the police appears to have been aware of plans to assassinate Dink. The Turkish press received the transcript of an extremely incriminating telephone conversation between a senior police official and one of the suspects which took place after the killing. The official seemed to know the details of the attack before it took place. Why was nothing done to protect Dink? Was it due to complicity on the part of the Turkish authorities who had no objection to the silencing of the journalist?
Perhaps the most tragic sign is that hardly anyone in Turkey believes the case will ever be solved. The killing of Dink threatens to cast a shadow over Turkey’s future.
By Bernard Bouwman RNW translation (fs) - Copyright Radio Netherlands Worldwide 2008
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