Murdered journalist Dink wins court case
ISTANBUL – The European Court for Human Rights has ruled in favour of the (murdered) Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink and his family. Dink filed the case almost four years ago. The Turkish state didn’t do enough to protect Dink’s life and didn’t respect Dink’s freedom of expression. The news appeared in several Turkish media outlets on Monday.
Sources say the verdict …
Turks commemorate mass killings of Armenians
ISTANBUL – For the first time Turks in Turkey have commemorated the mass killings of Armenians in 1915. A few hundred people joined together in ceremonies organized by IHD, one of the biggest human rights organisations in the country.
One of the commemorations took place by the train station from where on 24 April 1915 an initial convoy of Armenians left …
The Armenian community in Turkey consists of about fifty thousand souls. It’s not easy to keep such a small community alive. Especially not for Armenians who live outside the strong Armenian community in Istanbul. A special report.
Cemil and Gülestan have been married now for twenty one years. But when you see them sitting together with their sons …
Turkey blunders with Armenian radio
ISTANBUL – The Armenian radio station which Turkish state broadcaster TRT put on the air last week is not understandable to Turkish Armenians: the broadcasts are in a dialect spoken only in Armenia. It seems it was not done on purpose, and an internal investigation has been announced into the matter, according to Friday’s Hürriyet newspaper.
The station was meant to …
ISTANBUL – The Turkish Education Ministry has stopped distributing a documentary about the events leading up to the mass killings of Armenians in the latter days of the Ottoman Empire, almost a hundred years ago. The film, distributed to primary schools, was heavily criticised because it could stir up hatred between different ethnic groups, daily newspaper Radikal reports today….
ISTANBUL – A period of political uncertainty has come to an end in Turkey: governing party AKP will not be closed down, the Constitutional Court decided today. Various reforms and negotiations initiated by the AKP but stalled during the court case, can now be taken further. For example the accession talks with the EU and a proposed presidential visit to …
Armenians one year after the assassination of Hrant Dink
Many people will remember the enormous demonstrations after the assassination in Istanbul of Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, exactly one year ago today. The fighting spirit that could be felt at the time amongst Turkish Armenians seems to have faded away now. The Armenian community, which became more visible because of Dink, has largely closed itself off again. Young people …
Law about ‘Turkishness’ is a diplomatic toy
Altering the ban on insulting ‘Turkishness’ will not help freedom of expression. It is better to get rid of Turkish taboos, says Fréderike Geerdink.
(published in daily newspaper De Volkskrant, opinion page ‘Forum’)
The Turkish government is working on an amendment to article 301 of the Penal Code, the article that forbids insulting ‘Turkishness’. The European Union has been pressing for that …
Hrant Dink continues to inspire
Today in Istanbul Hrant Dink’s funeral will be held. The Turkish-Armenian journalist was killed last friday. Dink was, together with his weekly newspaper Agos, the voice of the Armenian community in Turkey. How will this comunity go on without Dink?
It’s too early, many Armenians say. To early to ask them what it means to them that Hrant Dink is no longer alive. These day’s between murder and funeral they grieve, express their anger, comfort eachother. But still: does this murder make them silent and scared, or, on the opposite, strong? That question is answered loud and clear. It will not be silent again, and there is no fear. Dink gave Armenians a voice en made their self confidence grow, is the general opinion. And nothing can take away that strength.
Lawyer and writer Fethiye Çetin: ‘My identity has never been purely Turkish’
(photography by Hanneke Geerdink)
Turkish lawyer Fethiye Çetin wrote a book about the experiences of her grandmother, who witnessed the mass killings of Armenians during a death march of women and children in 1915 as a little girl. ‘My grandmother’ is now in its 7th re-print in Turkey.
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