Slain Armenian editor's office opens as memorial in Istanbul

PanARMENIAN.Net - Thirteen years since his assassination on the steps of an Istanbul-based newspaper he once ran, Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink's office has now been reopened to the public as a memorial, Anadolu Agency reports.

Founder and editor of the Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos, Dink was gunned down in broad daylight in front of his Istanbul office in 2007 on January 19.

Every year on January 19, thousands gather in front of the building, where Dink was killed to commemorate the slain journalist.

Due to the "symbolic significance of the site and its place in the collective memory," the Hrant Dink Foundation -- founded after his assassination -- turned the building into the 23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory, named after an article penned by Dink in Agos on April 23, 1996.

Agos continues to circulate in Turkey in both languages, albeit from a different location where it moved in 2015.

"We gave this name [to the site] inspired by Hrant's article, in which he talked about April 23 and 24 and said: 'I wish we could combine these two days and promise a future encouraging hope at the end of these two days'," Sibel Asna, a board member at Hrant Dink Foundation, said.

"April 23 is a holiday for sovereignty and April 24 is a tragedy for us all," Asna said, adding: "The site was opened between these two days, and is called 23.5, which promises hope and kindness."

April 24, 1915 is the day when a group of Armenian intellectuals were rounded up and assassinated in Constantinople by the Ottoman government. On April 24, Armenians worldwide will be commemorating the 105th anniversary of the Genocide which continued until 1923. Some three dozen countries, hundreds of local government bodies and international organizations have so far recognized the killings of 1.5 million Armenians as Genocide. Turkey denies to this day.