Armenian journalists killed in 1915 put on “murdered journalists” list

PanARMENIAN.Net - Following the Contemporary Journalists’ Association (ÇGD), the Turkish Journalists Association (TGC) has decided to include the names of Armenian journalists killed during the 1915 Armenian Genocide in its list of “murdered journalists,” with a special section of the Press Museum to be dedicated to the murdered Armenian journalists, Hürriyet Daily News reported.

“What is important for us is that they are our colleagues; their religion, language and race are irrelevant,” Ahmet Özdemir, TGC’s deputy secretary-general, said.

ÇGD added the names of 10 murdered Armenian journalists to its list in recent months. The TGC, however, plans to add only two names: Diran Kelekyan, an editor of the daily Sabah and Cihan journals, as well as a writer and an academic; and Krikor Zohrab, a legal expert, writer, journalist and three-time deputy in the Ottoman Parliament.

“We took journalism as the criterion. Persons who published poems and discursions on newspapers do not carry significance for us in terms of journalistic criteria,” Özdemir said, adding that Zohrab and Kelekyan were murdered for their professional journalistic activities.

ÇGD member Ahmet Abakay said: “We would like to make space for more Armenian journalists as the ÇGD. We also came in very late, but we had neither any documents nor any information. Official history concealed the truth from us. It constitutes a crime to conceal from society the names of these individuals who labored for the Turkish press. We are going to continue waging this struggle.”