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January 26, 2015
AGBU Europe Holds Commemoration in Honor of Journalist Hrant Dink at the European Parliament
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On January 21, 2015, AGBU Europe, the European Grassroots Antiracist Movement (EGAM) and the Turkish human rights organization DurDe! organized a commemoration on the eighth anniversary of the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. -
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Rakel Dink, the journalist’s widow and president of the Hrant Dink Foundation, served as the keynote speaker for the event. -
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Yervant Zorian, member of the AGBU Central Board, commented on the particular legacy Hrant Dink has left for Armenians.
Leaders from the Armenian, Turkish and European communities gather to pay tribute to the legacy of a defender of tolerance.
On January 21, 2015, AGBU Europe, the European Grassroots Antiracist Movement (EGAM) and the Turkish human rights organization DurDe! organized a commemoration on the eighth anniversary of the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. The event—hosted by European Parliament member Frank Engel—took place at the European Parliament in Brussels.
This event mirrored commemorations taking place in Turkey and throughout Europe, which celebrated the memory of a man who has become an icon of the movement for civil liberty in Turkey. It also served as an opportunity to recall the intellectual legacy of a defender of tolerance, minority rights and freedom of speech.
Rakel Dink, the journalist’s widow and president of the Hrant Dink Foundation, was the keynote speaker at the commemoration. In her speech, she recalled her husband’s struggle to create a more just society in Turkey. She closed her address with an invitation to attend the commemoration of the Armenian genocide planned in Istanbul on April 24, 2015 as well as with quote from her late husband: “The time has come for April 24 to be commemorated on [in Turkey], on which we shall collectively remember all of those people and wish peace upon their souls. It will be a day when pain shared gives rise to multitudes of joy; that day shall not only soothe the pain of the Armenian people, but will also be the very spirit of the democratization of Turkey.”
Also participating in the event was Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, vice president of the European Parliament and Claude Moraes, chairman of the Committee for Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs of the European Parliament and Yervant Zorian, member of the AGBU Central Board, who commented on the particular legacy Hrant Dink has left for Armenians. “Armenians are a dispersed people living all around the world together with other nationalities. They have learned to live in tolerance with other cultures. In this sense, Hrant Dink represents a model for the Armenians.” Levent Sensever, coordinator of DurDe! echoed Zorian’s idea, saying: “Hrant Dink was an example for the Turkish people and for the rest of the world to follow.”
Hrant Dink was killed outside of the Agos newspaper headquarters on January 19, 2007. His death prompted widespread indignation in Turkey and worldwide. In the aftermath of his assassination, 100,000 people gathered in the streets of Istanbul, chanting “We are all Hrant Dink. We are all Armenians.” A similar slogan was heard in Paris following the attacks at the Charlie Hebdo newspaper earlier this month. At the event, Benjamin Abtan, president of EGAM, drew a parallel between the January 7, 2015 attack and the assassination of Dink: “Even though Hrant is not with us anymore, his message remains: go on fighting for the truth, for Armenian heritage especially, and raise awareness of the value of the diversity of identities.”
The commemoration of the assassination of Hrant Dink in Brussels is the first European event to take place in the context of the centenary of the Armenian genocide.
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