Winners of international "Hrant Dink" award announced

Anniversary of Hrant Dink's murder in Istanbul, 19Jan2008 (c) Artur Papyan

On September 15 in Istanbul at the concert hall "Cemal Rasit Rey" the award ceremony of nominees of Hrant Dink International Award 2010 was held. The Award winners are: "Conscientious Objection Movement" Turkish anti-militarist organization and Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon, the first national judge exercising the universal jurisdiction.
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"My only weapon was my sincerity." Hrant Dink

Hrant Dink murdered - by the Turkish state! Not by the ultra-nationalist youth Ogun Samast, 17 years old who doesn't know any better, but the Turkish State, for this murder is only the culmination of processes long built up by the state machine. Despite the restarted propoganda wars on the internet I still belive in the Turkish people. No people can be classified as "bad", "fascist", or one with "poisonous blood", or "race of murderers" - it is simply NOT ACCEPTABLE. The Turkish people, thousands of them went on streets saying: “We are all Hrant Dink…We are all Armenian..” in an amazing act of solidarity to Hrant Dink, Armenian, their follow citizen. We must be stong now and not give way to provocation. I believe that is also the point made by Harmic at the Blogrel:

Whilst this is a tragedy, and a great, great loss. I wonder if there are some people who may seek to use this event as both publicity for the Armenian Genocide ( lets face it, it has been on major news screens today) , and also a chance to insult Turkey. I worry that statements like that of Tigran Torosyan do nothing but agitate an already tense situation. It is naieve to consider that the assassination of Hrant Dink should make Turkey not “even dream” of European Union entry. It is also a bad reflection on the Armenian official position - and I am waiting to hear a comment that suggests this is some kind of Armenian perpertration. It is really time for our Armenian politicians to think carefully about the way they react to this murder.

Now let us listen to Dink’s Last Words that I came across with via Blogian.

...They bombarded me with insults on their placards. The threats reaching hundreds that kept hailing for months through phones, e-mail and letters kept increasing each time.

My only weapon was my sincerity.

...have to confess that I had more than lost my trust in the concept of “Law” and the “System of Justice” in Turkey .

The judiciary does not protect the rights of the citizen, but instead the State.

The judiciary is not there for the citizen, but under the control of the State.

As a matter of fact I was absolutely sure that even though it was stated that the decision in my case was reached “in the name of the Turkish nation,” it was a decision clearly not made “on behalf of the Turkish nation” but rather “on behalf of the Turkish state.”

The diary and memory of my computer are filled with angry, threatening lines sent by citizens from this particular sector. (Let me note here at this juncture that even though one of these letters was sent from [the neighboring city of] Bursa and that I had found it rather disturbing because of the proximity of the danger it represented and [therefore] turned the threatening letter over to the Şişli prosecutor’s office, I have not been able to get a result until this day.)

How real or unreal are these threats?

To be honest, it is of course impossible for me to know for sure.
What it truly threatening and unbearable for me is the psychological torture I personally place myself in. “Now what are these people thinking about me?” is the question that really bugs me.
It is unfortunate that I am now better known than I once was and I feel much more the people throwing me that glance of “Oh, look, isn’t he that Armenian guy?”...

Hrant Dink was killed in Istanbul just before he was entering the AGOS newpaper building in Sisli area, today, 19th January 2007

"Our dearest friend , our brother , the editor in chief of AGOS newspaper Hrant Dink has been assasinated ruthlessly. There are no words to explain our pain. Our deepest condolences for those who can still feel themselves as human beings.

AGOS Members


I learned with pain today the shocking news of the murder of Hrant Dink, journalist, editor of Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos:

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) - Journalist Hrant Dink, one of the most prominent voices of Turkey’s shrinking Armenian community, was killed by a gunman Friday at the entrance to his newspaper’s offices, police said. Hrant Dink, a 53-year-old Turkish citizen of Armenian descent, had gone on trial numerous times for speaking out about the mass killings of Armenians by Turks at the beginning of the 20th century. He had also received threats from nationalists, who viewed him as a traitor.

Armenians all over the world mourn, as Amnesty International Condemns Murder of Hrant Dink

"This horrifying assassination silences one of Turkey's bravest human rights defenders," said Maureen Greenwood-Basken, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) advocacy director for Europe and Central Asia. "Writers put their lives on the line when they cover human rights violations, as the cases of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, and now Hrant Dink, brutally illustrate.

"But legitimate debate about ideas must be protected. The Turkish government must redouble its efforts to protect human rights defenders and open its political climate to a range of views. Recent legal reforms have brought many areas of Turkish law in line with international human rights standards, but existing limitations on free speech such as Article 301 must be repealed.

Other News Sources: BBC: Turkish-Armenian writer shot dead ArmeniaNow: Hrant Dink Murdered: Turkish-Armenian journalist shot dead in Istanbul A1plus: “DISGUSTING CRIME” ; OSCE APPALLED BY MURDER OF HRANT DINK iArarat: Armenian Journalist Hrant Dink Murdered in Turkey Oneworld Multimedia: Hrant Dink Shot Dead in Istanbul