Erol ÖNDEROĞLU
BIANET

Three years after Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was assassinated in front of Agos newspaper, his friends call out: “We know the murderer, we want justice”. For a decent future they claim that Hrant Dink’s murder should not be forgotten and that the murderers and the abettors should not get away with what they did.
Journalist and writer Hrant Dink, editor-in-chief of the weekly Agos newspaper publishing in both languages Armenian and Turkish, was killed on 19 January 2007. The journalist will be commemorated in a public ceremony held in front of Agos newspaper in Şişli, Istanbul, on Tuesday afternoon (19 January), the third anniversary of the assassination.

The “Friends of Hrant” group made a public call for the commemoration event and also for the coming hearing of the murder case on 8 February. They have published an announcement in the mainstream newspapers throughout the last couple of days.
“Hrant was killed by a collective official decision” Read more »

Erol ÖNDROĞLU
BİA News Center

Today’s 11th hearing in the Hrant Dink muder case at the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court will be followed by European Union – Turkey Joint Parliamentary Commission co-chair Hélene Flautre and European Parliament Greens Advisor Ali Yurttagül.

International Writers Association PEN board member Eugene Schoulgin and Lin Stensrud and Trine Kleven from PEN Norway will testify as witnesses. Representatives of the Paris Bar Association and the Brussels Bar Association lawyers Vincent Niore, Mathier Brochier and Alexandre Couyoumdjian, who already monitored the case during the previous 2 hearings, will be present as well.
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Edik BAGHDASARYAN and Hrant GADARIGIAN
Azad-Hye Middle East Armenian Portal

During a recent working visit to Istanbul the Editors of ”Hetq” (Edik Baghdasaryan and Hrant Gadarigian) had the opportunity to visit the offices of the ”Agos” newspaper founded by the late Hrant Dink. While there we were able to interview Pakrat Estukyan, the Armenian-language Editor, on a wide-range of topics. Below is a translation of the conversation.

As a result of our meetings with members and organizations of the Bolsahay (Istanbul Armenian) community we’re left with the impression that a certain process of national rejuvenation is taking place. Is this a fair assumption?
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Erol ÖNDROĞLU
BİA News Center

Up to now, 3 cases have been opened against Milliyet newspaper journalist Nedim Şener on the grounds of his book “The Dink Murder and the Lies of the Intelligence”. Şener faces prison sentence of up to 32 years 6 months in total. The next hearing takes place tomorrow (16 December) at the Istanbul 11th High Criminal Court.

The court is waiting for a reply from the Istanbul 14th High Criminal Court in order to confirm whether the drawings and documents Şener used for his book indeed stem from the Hrant Dink murder file.

Turkish-Armenian journalist and Agos newspaper editor-in-chief Hrant Dink was assassinated on 19 January 2007 in front of the newspaper’s office in Şişli, central Istanbul. Read more »

Erol ÖNDROĞLU
BİA News Center

The case against writer Temel Demirer under article 301 of the Turkish Criminal Code (TCK) on “Insulting the Turkish People, Republic of Turkey and Governmental Institutions and Bodies” has been pending for more than 2 years. Demirer is tried on the grounds of his statement “Hrant Dink was not murdered because he was Armenian but because he recognized the genocide”.

Former Ministry of Justice Mehmet Ali Şahin approved of the author’s prosecution, saying that “I will not have anybody call my state a murderer”. At the same time, the Administrative Court struggles to void the Ministry’s approval. Read more »

Tolga KORKUT
BİA News Center

Assoc. Dr. Ülkü Doğanay from Ankara University Faculty of Communication is the author of the “Discrimination Framed by the Print Media Research”.* According to Doğanay, the “discrimination denial strategy” is one of the most typical examples for discrimination in the media.

“Embrace diversity, stop discrimination” is the topic of this year’s International Human Rights Day of the United Nations on 10 December. Doğanay told bianet in this context that the denial of discrimination is one of the methods of a “new racism”.
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Erol ÖNDROĞLU
BİA News Center

The Şişli (Istanbul) 2nd Magistrate Criminal Court handed down a 8,000 TL (€ 3640) monetary fine to Kenan Celepoğlu on the grounds of electronic mails he sent to the Armenian Agos newspaper which allegedly contained insults, threats and racism.

The lawyers of the weekly newspaper brought a charge against an unidentified person in December 2008. As a result of the investigation Celepoğlu was confirmed to live in Samsun (Black Sea coast) and a case was opened against him under charges of “insult via an oral or written message”. Read more »

Lou Ann MATOSSIAN
The Armenian Reporter

Minneapolis – Sparking hopes for the Turkish judiciary system, the Sisli (Istanbul) Second Magistrate Criminal Court has convicted a fourth individual of harassing the Istanbul Armenian weekly Agos, reported the BIA News Center on Dec. 15.

Kenan Celepoglu of Samsun was fined 8,000 TL ($5,286) for “insult via an oral or written message” on the grounds of anonymous emails he had sent to Agos. The messages allegedly contained insults, threats, and racist statements.

“It is a positive and hopeful sign for the Turkish judiciary system that this kind of racism and hostile actions are punished without reducing the sentence,” said Agos attorney Fethiye Çetin. “In our opinion, these examples have an intimidating effect [on offenders] and are encouraging for other judges.” Read more »

Bawer ÇAKIR
BİA News Center

The United Nations (UN) awarded Turkish peace and human rights activist and caricaturist Firuz Kutal with the “Political Caricature” price for his work entitled “Peace Doves”. Kutal lives in Norway and criticized the United States of America with his caricature at the time when the USA invaded Iraq despite wide-spread anti-war demonstrations and claimed to “bring peace and democracy”. Read more »

Lou Ann MATOSSIAN
The Armenian Reporter

Minneapolis – Undermining stereotypes about Armenians from within Turkish society, a comprehensive new book published in Istanbul seeks to reintroduce the Armenian community to the Turkish-speaking majority, Nouvelles d’Arménie and Nor Zartonk report.

In Armenians in Turkey: Community, Individual, Citizen, authors Günay Göksu Ozdogan, Fusun Üstel, Karin Karakasli, and Ferhat Kentel explore Armenians’ deep roots in the land of Ararat, prejudices against Armenians, community life today, and the construction of Armenian identity in contemporary Turkey, among other topics. A moody black-and-white image by noted photographer Ara Güler graces the cover.
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