Requiem Service Remarks of Bishop Vicken Aykazian Concerning the Assassination of Journalist Hrant Dink - 23 January 2007
St. Mary Armenian Church in Washington, D.C. –
A "Dove of Peace" has been slain. A man of integrity, moral courage and personal honor, journalist
Hrant Dink, an innocent victim to extremist hatred, was assassinated in broad daylight last Friday outside of the offices of the weekly newspaper Agos which he founded and edited in Istanbul.
Hrant was a friend. I had the honor of his personal friendship. But more than being my personal friend, he was a friend to all Armenians, in Turkey, and in the Diaspora Armenian communities throughout the world. Indeed, he was a friend to every man, woman and child who loves truth,
embraces democracy and cares deeply about human rights. When Hrant Dink wrote about the Armenian Genocide he was not simply calling attention to a truth that is too often and too vigorously denied - he was crying out for the world to come to terms with the violence of its recent history so that
modern history might recognize genocide in its midst before it is too late.
Today, genocide occurs under the guise of nationalism, the quest for racial superiority or simply out of lust for power for another's property and possessions. Hrant Dink called upon the world, and Turkey in
particular, to acknowledge and admit the truth of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Turkey - not to shame or humiliate the Turkish people, but to engage our two neighboring peoples in a fruitful dialogue for the betterment of their relations. As Hrant Dink believed - truth is the only basis for a mutually respectful and beneficial relationship between peoples. We, as citizens of the world, must believe that too.
It is ironic that in the midst of the information age where the evidence of the Armenian Genocide is so readily available and accessible that a young Turkish extremist found himself so unable to cope with the realities of the past he saw on the Internet he sought to relieve his anger and confusion by an act of murder. I say ironic only because people around the globe, and in Turkey in particular, have become even more aware of the writings of Hrant Dink by an act this young extremist hoped would silence his call to truth. So, we must all wonder and hope that this senseless, brutal tragedy might
yet be redeemed by equally unexpected acts of love and respect between the Turkish and Armenian peoples.
Hrant Dink was an eloquent writer who used those skills God entrusted to him to promote a dialogue between Turks and Armenians. He was to many the best hope to build a bridge of peace between these two neighbors based upon the truth as a basis for reconciliation. His assassination, however, was a direct attack on Hrant's desire for truth to serve as a basis for understanding. He knew, more than most, how critical the causes of democracy, free speech, human rights and dignity were for
minorities in Turkey. Indeed, while not a prerequisite for Turkey to join the greater European community, Hrant believed it a formidable stumbling block politically, but more important, socially.
Only time will tell if he was right - but the reconciliation of other people, from Northern Ireland to nations in sub-Saharan Africa tell us that he is right.
There exists an opportunity, possibly an unparalleled opportunity, long overdue, for love and peace to reign supreme in Turkey's relations with its ethnic minorities. In order for Turkey's desire to join the EU
community to go forward Hrant Dink believed that Turks should find the strength and courage to go back and embrace its Ottoman era history. No nation, no matter how great, can claim to know itself unless it can be honest about its own history. For a nation to deny its history, no matter at times how dark, is to deny itself. And no nation can claim the laurels of its achievements unless it can also be honest about its mistakes.
So, what does the future hold in terms of the ideas Hrant Dink championed? Those who love truth, democracy, free speech and human rights need to make the truth known so that when the assembly of humanity's voice calls out it is heard to say "This is the truth and only the truth will set us free."
Sadly, a young man, who believed that his fears and social condition would be improved by the brutal murder of an advocate for truth and justice has, if only for a moment, won out over the voices of reason and love. But, from every corner of the world I have received notes and words of
sympathy and solidarity that give me hope. I say hope because these are not received
from expected quarters only - but from those most unexpected. Because Hrant Dink did not limit his ideas to the Armenian Genocide alone, but wrote forcefully about the universal rights of all human beings to live in safety and dignity, imbued with human rights, his murder is seen as an
offence against all peoples. Those who sought to silence the truth
through Hrant's brutal assassination committed an offense not only against Armenia, but against Turkey, her people and all who loved liberty, freedom of conscience and the advancement of Turkey into the EU.
Friends who speak about Hrant Dink repeat his mantra - "Unless Turkey emerges as a democracy committed to free speech and human rights, for those of power as well as those in the precarious state of the minority, Turkey will never be a great nation of the world community."
How did Hrant Dink hope to move Turkey to be its better self? First, he and his friends who started Agos and the movement for truth, acknowledgement and reconciliation were determined not to achieve it through hatred. Hatred, Hrant knew, was not a vehicle for the reconciliation of our two peoples. Indeed, there are many Turkish scholars and intellectuals who freely acknowledge the Armenian people's contribution to the Ottoman Empire as a history inseparable from their own history.
No, Hrant Dink and his colleagues were committed to a common path for the Armenians and Turks based on the love of humanity. Hrant Dink and the men and women of this movement were dedicated to exposing Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code for what it was - an offense not only against
Armenians but against Turks themselves. Its repeal could, and still only be achieved through a thorough examination of the truth, an acceptance of the past and a commitment to a peaceful future based upon mutual respect and understanding.
Hrant Dink wanted these two historic nations to do more than co-exist geographically. He wanted them to develop a relationship as neighbors - cognizant of the dark pages of their history - but committed to the bright future that yet still can be written. But we know that reality denies the
possibility that this could occur in a vacuum. History teaches us, even recent history, that only through a robust examination of the past, no matter how dark, can two peoples advance the common cause of
humanity which is love!
If those of us who love truth and justice, including Turks of good will, refuse to acknowledge that Hrant Dink's assassination was an attempt to hide the past and silence voices of hope - then the world community has no right to expect that modern genocides, as the one still raging on in Darfur, will
ever be stopped. The issue for us to consider as we confide Hrant Dink to his eternal rest is not simply one about the Armenian Genocide, but one of the human condition and our ability to disagree without resort to the attempted extermination of someone of a different race, nation, language, culture or economic status. We, who love justice and truth, as did Hrant Dink, must take up his cross daily and, with God's help, with equal courage, compassion and conviction. Only then might the common cause of humanity be justly served.
Therefore, to honor Hrant Dink's memory, let us re-commit ourselves to the cause of truth, justice, democracy, free speech and human rights. Let his blood, spilled in the service of humanity and the Armenian people of whom he was a devoted and beloved son, fertilize the seeds of hope, peace and truth he planted with each stroke of his pen in writings that will live on long past the man. Let the garden he has nurtured grow, flourish and inspire all of us to promote the love and spirit of cooperation Hrant Dink knew was possible between the Turkish and Armenian peoples, neighbors with a common
history and, God willing, a shared future of cooperation.
I pray that this sad occasion calls each one of you to keep his legacy alive. I hope that you will take up his cross of truth in the service of hope and love. And may God, whose Providence gave us the gift
that was Hrant Dink in life, nurture us through his death so that we might complete his work which is the reconciliation of men and women of good will, especially for the Turkish and Armenian peoples.
