Turkish-Armenian Journalist Condemned To 6 Months Conditional Sentence

PanARMENIAN.Net - An Istanbul court on Friday sentenced Turkish Ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, editor of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, to a six-month suspended sentence for "insult to the Turkish national identity." This means that "the ethnic Armenian journalist will not be taken into custody, if he does not repeat what he has done." In an article published last year Dink has addressed Armenians, urging them «to give up animosity against Turks, which poisons blood.» In the opinion of Agos editor Karin Karakashli, the court has interpreted these words out of the context and arrived at a conclusion that «Turkish blood, in Dink's words, is poisoned.» Mr. Dink himself denied the accusation, considering it a political act. In his words, he would bring the case to Turkey's Supreme Court and to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary. "If I am unable to come up with a positive result, it will be honorable for me to leave this country," H. Dink stated, reported RFE/RL.