Dink lost his life for courage to speak of Armenian Genocide

PanARMENIAN.Net - Last night on the House Floor, Representative Adam Schiff remembered one of Turkey's most prominent Armenian journalists, who was shot to death outside his newspaper's office in Istanbul, on January 19th, Mr Sean Oblack, Congressman Schiff's Press Secretary told PanARMENIAN.Net Hrant Dink was a courageous journalist who called for a more open discussion of Turkeys past, including the Armenian Genocide. In 2003, on a trip to Turkey, Rep. Schiff met with Mr. Dink to discuss the Armenian Genocide and

press freedom issues.



Rep. Schiff recently sent a bipartisan letter, cosigned by 42 Congressional colleagues, to the Turkish Prime Minister calling on him to investigate Mr. Dink's murder. Schiff asked that he ensure that this crime is solved and that those responsible are brought to justice.



Rep. Schiff's statement says in part,



"About a week and a half ago, a courageous journalist by the name of Hrant Dink was murdered outside of his newspaper office in Istanbul. I would like to read today some of the comments that he made in his last newspaper article Agos on January 19, the day that he was shot dead.



Well, Mr. Dink, unfortunately, found otherwise when he was gunned down outside of his office by a young man no doubt inflamed by the passions that the government did so little to quell. Hrant Dink, who had the courage to talk about some of the darkest periods of Ottoman history, of the genocide of the Armenian people, the first genocide of last century that claimed a million and a half lives, paid for that courage with his life.



Well, we will have the opportunity here soon to take up a resolution on the Armenian genocide. All we have to do is vote. That is very little compared to what Hrant Dink did and the price that he paid.



I had a chance to meet him in Istanbul a couple of years ago. He was optimistic about the future. He was optimistic about Turkey's future, about its willingness to examine its past. Regrettably, that optimism was misplaced.



Today we remember a courageous journalist, Hrant Dink. And his legacy lives on."