ISTANBUL (Combined Sources) — Thousands of people gathered in the Sisli district of Istanbul to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the assassination of Hrant Dink, a Turkish journalist of Armenian origin on January 19.
The crowd stood in homage at 3:05 p.m., the exact time of Dink’s death, in front of the Agos newspaper building where he was killed. Hidayet Sevkatli Tuksal, a daily Taraf journalist, American linguist Noam Chomsky and Rakel Dink, Dink’s widow, spoke. The crowd also listened to a recorded speech Dink had given prior to his death.
Dink was murdered on January 19, 2007, in front of the offices of Agos, the paper where he worked, by Ogün Samast, a 17-year-old Turkish nationalist. After a two-year trial, Samast was convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to 22 years and 10 months in prison.
The court also ruled that Dink’s murder was not an organized crime despite serious claims that some civil servants linked to the “deep state” were “indirectly” involved, to the dismay of Dink’s family.
The Friends of Hrant Dink organization, established in memory of the late journalist, called the event “Buradayiz Ahparig!” (We are here, brother). Following the commemoration, the crowd walked to Taksim square, shouting slogans such as, “We all are Hrant, we all are Armenian.”
Police reportedly intervened in the march, where some people were at risk of being crushed due to the large crowds, and used pepper gas against some demonstrators.
