V.Oskanian: Dink Was a Great Dreamer Who Believed In Goodness of Mankind

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian Foreign Minister Oskanian sent a personal condolence letter to Hrant Dink's widow Raqel and the family, the RA MFA Press Office reports. The minister's message particularly says, "It is with deep sorrow that I write this letter. We all join you in mourning this cruel, unnecessary, unimaginable, immeasurable loss. Hrant was more than the editor of a newspaper. He embodied the dreams of an entire nation. And he dreamt big. He believed in the goodness of mankind and its ability to bring change. He fought vigorously for individual freedom and liberty as instruments for change and progress. Indeed, we have a responsibility to do this so that his death takes on meaning, just as his life was so meaningful and significant for so many. We have a further responsibility to make sure that the life we live together, in the same region, is a life of peace and understanding. And because he believed, he spoke and wrote with passion, thus converting many, near and far, into believers. Today, it is these believers who will carry forward his dream to be able to freely speak the truth, remember a shared, if painful, history, to recount the horrors of genocide in order to reject and condemn it once and for all, and to make new history together. Armenians and Turks together can ensure Hrant's desire for peace across borders, dialogue among peoples and understanding between individuals." The Minister's letter and a floral wreath were delivered to the family immediately preceding the funeral.



From Moscow, Vartan Oskanian commented, "We were conducting dialogue to reach peace with Azerbaijan in Moscow, while an advocate of dialogue and peace, shot dead, was being laid to rest in Turkey. I couldn't help but think that violence, war, extremism are not the answers to any of the region's problems. I wonder if we will look back to this day and see Hrant's death as the catalyst for a new hope for the region."