Hrant Dink – three years after the murder
I was in an eye hospital for on an assignment when I heard the news: Hrant Dink had been killed. There were TV screens in the hospital, and I couldn’t stop watching, wishing my Turkish was better, wishing I could understand what exactly was going on. But the biggest news, that Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink had been shot dead, was clear enough from the images alone: you saw just his feet sticking out from beneath the sheet that covered his dead body.
İt was January 19th 2007. I spent the following days at the scene of the murder: in front of Agos, the newspaper Dink founded and of which he was editor in chief. I spoke to many people and published my first report from Turkey – I had arrived in Turkey just three weeks earlier. I still remember those days as some of the most impressive in my life.
And now, three years later, where do we stand? Has the murder been solved, have those responsible been punished? Not by a long shot. Hrant Dink’s lawyers published a report drawing the conclusion that they are exactly where they were three years ago. Only the actual killer, Ogün Samast, is behind bars. Everybody knows who neglected intelligence reports about the threats against Dink’s life, but even though at first they were investigated, the cases against all these guys have been dropped. They all still have responsible jobs in, for example, the police force. What can we conclude, other than that inside the state apparatus, nobody gives a damn about justice in this horrible murder case.
May Hrant rest in peace.
I think Hrant Dink case is going to be swepted under the carpet once more like any other unresolverd cases, deep state is still very much alive, Nationalism, a decisive force the institutions are all have been inflected with nationalism dissase, how can citizens still be able to trust the state if there are so many black holes, why Turkey not change its name to Democratic Republic of Turkey like some other totalitarian regims those who claims they have better democracy than rest of the world.