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Hrant Dink: A pigeon-like unease of my spirit by The Region - 19/01/2018 09:43

January 19, 2017, marks the anniversary of the assassination of Armenian journalist . Born on September 15, 1954, in , , Hrant Dink went on to become a journalist who served as editor of the newspaper Agos, which gave a voice to Armenian communities. He was a prominent member of the Armenian minority in Turkey. Dink was best known for advocating Turkish–Armenian reconciliation and human and minority rights in Turkey; he was often critical of both Turkey's denial of the , and of the Armenian diaspora's campaign for its international recognition. ''If we, the living in Turkey, do not voice our problem, then who should do it? Not the other states but the very Turkey should recognize the Armenian genocide, it should confront its history, we need to dialogue, whereas we waste unnecessary energy by knocking at the doors of different countries. And we should dialogue with the current new generation, with young people aged 20-25, who, unfortunately, do not know anything about the truth,'' Dink said.

Dink was prosecuted three times for denigrating Turkishness while receiving numerous death threats from Turkish nationalists. Dink promoted a policy of wider integration of Turkish-Armenians into the wider Turkish society. Critical of state injustices, he often underlined the fact that a stronger Turkey would be achieved through the elimination of discrimination. Even after his conviction for speaking of the Armenian Genocide, Dink continued to value his community, city, and country, noting often that his analysis and criticism was in the interest of strengthening the country. He concentrated on the mismanagement of community institutions, tried to promote obtaining rights through legal means, and was always open to compromise, once noting, "After all, Turkey is very reluctant to concede rights to its majority as well." However, in the aftermath of the assassination, two dramatically opposed voices are being heard in Turkey. The 120,000 people who crowded the streets outside of Dink's funeral expressing solidarity, chanting "We are all Hrant Dink", "We are all Armenian", represent an opposition to Turkey's violent nationalism that is associated with the deep state and its military infrastructure; they represent the hope for democracy, civil rights, and ethnic tolerance. On the other side are voices of extreme Turkish nationalism, including from within the state, which blame Dink's death on calls from the international community (for which they hold the Armenian diaspora responsible) for recognition of the Armenian genocide. The Turkish newspaper Hurriyet now reports that Ankara wants to "slug it out" on the issue of the Armenian genocide and will pursue legal means (whatever folly this may be) to deny the Armenian genocide in the international courts. 11 years after Dink's death, Garo Paylan, an Armenian member of the Turkish Parliament representing the opposition People’s Democratic Party (HDP) recently warned that he has received intelligence about assassination plots targeting Turkish citizens living in Europe, among them Armenians who have left Turkey. “I received intelligence last week about plans of assassination or chain of assassinations of our citizens living in Europe, particularly those in Germany, information that I have verified from multiple sources,” Paylan told reporters at Parliament on Wednesday. “This Turkey-based structure mobilized certain people to carry out these assassinations,” he said, adding that several European countries have taken such tips seriously and their intelligence services have provided security for the persons and groups on the target. “Recently, thousands of academics, journalists, politicians and opinion leaders were forced to live in Europe particularly due to the recent oppressive policies of the [ruling] AKP [Justice and Development Party],” said the Armenian lawmaker. He said that these “dark forces” are bolstered by the state policy of discrimination to take such actions. On top of that, a far-right militia group has declared President Erdogan as their commander. The People's Special Operations, officially listed as an association in Turkey, was formed after the July 15 failed coup attempt. They were formed in Turkey, and chose their name People's Special Operations (HOH), to mimic the names of the Gendarmerie Special Operations (JOH) and the Police Special Operations (POH). The centre of the association is Trabzon, a city which recalls to mind the assassination of Hrank Dink, the Catholic priest Santoro and the Zirve Publishing House massacre. The shooter of Dink was Ogun Samast, a teenager born in 1990 and registered as residing in Trabzon, the same city where, a year before Dink's assassination, the Catholic priest Andrea Santoro was shot dead by a 16-year-old native of the city, in front of the church of Santa Maria in Trabzon. The Zirve Publishing House massacre also fell within a pattern of minorities being attacked by the ultranationalist right. On April 2007, only a few months after the Hrant Dink assassination, and in a manner that was reminiscent of the attack on Priest Santoro, the Zirve Publishing House in Malatya became the site of a massacre where three Christian employees were murdered for selling Christian books and the bible. In recent years, Trabzon has become an important recruiting place for ultra- nationalist movements.