Turkish-Armenian writer shot dead
Byrnzie
Posts: 21,037
Friday, 19 January 2007, 17:16 GMT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6279241.stm
Turkish-Armenian writer shot dead
A prominent Turkish-Armenian editor, convicted in 2005 of insulting Turkish identity, has been shot dead outside his newspaper's office in Istanbul.
Crowds of Hrant Dink's colleagues and supporters gathered at the scene, chanting their outrage at his murder.
Dink was given a six-month suspended sentence in October 2005 after writing about the Armenian "genocide" of 1915.
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the killing and said two suspects had been arrested.
"A bullet has been fired at democracy and freedom of expression," Mr Erdogan told a hastily convened news conference.
The attack on Hrant Dink was an attack on Turkey and on Turkish unity and stability, Mr Erdogan said, vowing that the "dark hands" behind the killing would be brought to justice.
The murder is likely to increase political tensions in Turkey, where politicians have been courting the nationalist vote ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections later this year, correspondents say.
Mr Erdogan gave no further details about those held but Turkey's NTV television reported that police were searching for a teenager wearing a white hat and a denim jacket in connection with the murder.
The channel showed pictures of a white sheet covering the journalist's body in front of the newspaper building's entrance.
Dink, the editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish and Armenian weekly Agos newspaper, was one of Turkey's most prominent Armenian voices.
He was the frequent target of anger from Turkish nationalists who viewed him as a traitor, correspondents say.
Dink, 53, was found guilty more than a year ago of insulting Turkish identity after he wrote an article which addressed the mass killings of Ottoman Armenians nine decades ago.
He always said his aim was to improve the difficult relationship between Turks and Armenians, but in one of his last newspaper columns, he admitted he had been getting deaths threats.
His computer hard drive was full of them, he wrote, amounting to what he called psychological torture.
Dink was among dozens of writers in Turkey who have been charged under 301 of Turkey's penal code with insulting Turkish identity, often for articles dealing with the killing of Kurds and Ottoman Armenians.
Hundreds of thousands of Armenians died in 1915, in what many Armenians say was a systematic massacre at the hands of the Ottoman Turks.
Turkey denies any genocide, saying the deaths were a part of World War I.
Turkey and neighbouring Armenia still have no official relations.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6279241.stm
Turkish-Armenian writer shot dead
A prominent Turkish-Armenian editor, convicted in 2005 of insulting Turkish identity, has been shot dead outside his newspaper's office in Istanbul.
Crowds of Hrant Dink's colleagues and supporters gathered at the scene, chanting their outrage at his murder.
Dink was given a six-month suspended sentence in October 2005 after writing about the Armenian "genocide" of 1915.
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the killing and said two suspects had been arrested.
"A bullet has been fired at democracy and freedom of expression," Mr Erdogan told a hastily convened news conference.
The attack on Hrant Dink was an attack on Turkey and on Turkish unity and stability, Mr Erdogan said, vowing that the "dark hands" behind the killing would be brought to justice.
The murder is likely to increase political tensions in Turkey, where politicians have been courting the nationalist vote ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections later this year, correspondents say.
Mr Erdogan gave no further details about those held but Turkey's NTV television reported that police were searching for a teenager wearing a white hat and a denim jacket in connection with the murder.
The channel showed pictures of a white sheet covering the journalist's body in front of the newspaper building's entrance.
Dink, the editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish and Armenian weekly Agos newspaper, was one of Turkey's most prominent Armenian voices.
He was the frequent target of anger from Turkish nationalists who viewed him as a traitor, correspondents say.
Dink, 53, was found guilty more than a year ago of insulting Turkish identity after he wrote an article which addressed the mass killings of Ottoman Armenians nine decades ago.
He always said his aim was to improve the difficult relationship between Turks and Armenians, but in one of his last newspaper columns, he admitted he had been getting deaths threats.
His computer hard drive was full of them, he wrote, amounting to what he called psychological torture.
Dink was among dozens of writers in Turkey who have been charged under 301 of Turkey's penal code with insulting Turkish identity, often for articles dealing with the killing of Kurds and Ottoman Armenians.
Hundreds of thousands of Armenians died in 1915, in what many Armenians say was a systematic massacre at the hands of the Ottoman Turks.
Turkey denies any genocide, saying the deaths were a part of World War I.
Turkey and neighbouring Armenia still have no official relations.
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
Talking about fear, before anyone even gets the chance to reply, you're already defending Bush.
Anyway, I heard the killer is an 17-year-old who thinks Dink insulted the Turkish people.
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