Nuncio to Ankara: "The assassination of Hrant Dink, an affront to Turkey"
Ankara (AsiaNews) – Yesterday 10 thousand gathered in Taksim, Istanbul’s most famous square, were they remain all night to show their sorrow at the death of the journalist of Armenian origin Hrant Dink shot dead in the afternoon, as he left the offices of the Agos weekly magazine, of which he was founding editor. A long procession left the doorstep decorated with flowers and candles in suffrage of the victim.
Armenians and exponents of the left remained in disconcerted silence as they led a torchlight procession with banners and photographs of their friend and intellectual. The recurrent slogan: “We are all Hrant Dink, we are all Armenians, searching for the truth and freedom ”, pronounced even by those who were not Armenian but defended and supported the same ideals of the Turkish Journalist of Armenian origin. Similar scenes in the principal squares of Ankara, Bursa and Smirne, where over 150 thousand people gathered spontaneously, mainly students and supporters of the Left.
The common opinion is that this murder was a provocation and had a destabilising political motivation, carried out by one of the many extreme right groups, nationalist fanatics, who roam the country freely undisturbed. However no-one has yet come forward with an hypothesis or name. As with the murder of Don Andrea the police immediately began the hunt for a young man, as fate would have it also a minor, possibly identified thanks to a video camera positioned outside a shop beside the Agos office. So far 8 people have been detained on suspicion.
The unanimous chorus from the daily newspapers and television channels states that it is not only a man that has been put to death, but Turkish society , that society which seeks fraternity, peaceful democracy and freedom of thought. The Nuncio in Ankara is of the same opinion, msgr. Antonio Lucibello: “It is a low blow for all Turkey, one body has not been hit but the entire fabric of Turkish society, at a point of time when it is consolidating democracy and searching for a common course for the various components that make up the country. During the week of prayer for Christian Unity – adds the prelate – we cannot but unite ourselves to the sorrow of our brothers, showing them our solidarity and closeness. We hope in the deepest of our hearts that this will not alter the pacific climate that was created by the Pope’s visit, between the faithful and the leaders of the different religions and Christian confessions present on Turkish soil”.
Before this “barbarous, disloyal and vile assassination ”, theArmenian Patriarch Mesrob II has announced 15 days of mourning for the over 80 thousand Armenians in Turkey as well as those living abroad.
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10/10/2009
19/01/2022 20:29
