ISTANBUL — Hrant Dink, who was assassinated 18 years ago in front of the Sebat Building, where Agos Newspaper’s former office was located, was commemorated by thousands of people on Sunday, January 19, at 3 p.m.
At the commemoration, Tülin Özen read a letter from Çiğdem Mater, who has been imprisoned since April 2022 as part of the Gezi trial, sent from Bakırköy Prison. In her letter, Çiğdem Mater wrote: “Today, I am sure there are those in front of the Sebat Building who were not yet born when Hrant was killed. Generations are changing, but the answer to the question ‘Where are we?’ draws its strength from persistently being here. We are still here, stubbornly.”
Erarslan Sağlam read a message from Osman Kavala, who has been unlawfully detained since November 2017. Kavala conveyed: “Despite murders, massacres, and all forms of tyranny, I continue to hope that we will see days when peace and justice prevail. I demand justice for Hrant and for all our citizens.”
At the commemoration where calls for justice were persistently voiced, this year’s address was delivered by Takuhi Tovmasyan, one of the leading figures in Armenian cultural writing.
In her speech, Takuhi Tovmasyan said: “What was his ‘crime’? It was obvious: a love of human beings, a passion for democracy and human rights, a firm belief in freedom of expression, and on top of all this, advocating for peace between two peoples, calling for the opening of the [sealed] Turkey-Armenia border… And above all of this, he possessed a God-given gift to persuade others, which scared some to their core.”
She also said, “It’s been 18 years since that dreadful Friday on January 19, 2007. On each and every January 19th, thousands of kindred spirits have gathered right here to commemorate you.”
