Service honoring life and work of Hrant Dink chanted in New York

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Armenian-American community joined together at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 4, 2007, in New York City's St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral for a memorial and requiem service honoring the life and work of Hrant Dink, the courageous Armenian-Turkish journalist assassinated outside the office of his newspaper, Agos, in Istanbul on Friday, January 19, 2007. The service was organized by the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America, the Armenian Catholic Eparchy of America and the Armenian Missionary Association. The service will also include remarks by three special guest speakers: Peter Steinfels of the New York Times, Jeremy Main of the Overseas Press Club, and Anna Kushner of the PEN American Center who will speak to the courage of their fellow journalist and the need to protect journalist as they exercise free speech rights.



"Hrant Dink never believed that it was disloyal to speak the truth. Indeed, he believed that it was his, and every Turkish citizen's duty to seek out and speak the truth. So, with a clear conscience, a good heart and a talent for writing, Hrant and his colleagues founded Agos, a bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper dedicated to responsible journalism and advocacy for peaceful change and dialogue," said Archbishop Khajag Barsamian, Primate (or head bishop) of the Diocese of the Armenian Church of America (Eastern), who traveled to Istanbul to attend Dink's funeral last month, reports the AAC Eastern Diocese communication unit.