The New Anatolian

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Saturday 04th of July 2009 10:37:47 PM GMT+2

Did we learn lessons from the Dink murder?

Hirant Dink will be remembered on January 19 on the first year of his murder. Has Turkey learnt any lessons in the past year. Or do we just suffice with the reality that there are nationalist monsters among us that are prepared to kill at all costs?

Ilnur Cevik

18 January 2008

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ilnurcevik@yahoo.com

It has been a year since Hirant Dink was gunned down in the heart of Istanbul in broad daylight. The suspected murderer and his accomplices have been caught and they are now on trial.

So has this really solved anything?

Is the Turkish society better off and have we managed to change some of the crooked mentalities in Turkey that led to the murder of this fine journalist who was of Armenian origin?

Or has the killing shown that there are too many hotheads who are prepared to even applaud the suspected killers of Dink in their songs and in other functions?

We saw the clash of all kinds of extremes and sentiments after the Dink murder.

There were emotional scenes all around.

Some of our colleagues and other intellectuals declared "we are also Armenians" to protest the nationalist chauvinist mentality that led to the murder of Dink. However, on the other side we also witnessed ultranationalists praising the suspected killers. There were even photos of the killer taken with security forces with Turkish flags in the background.

It was clear that there were some hidden hands even among the security forces that approved such killings… That is really what makes us shudder!

A year has passed and the question marks remain.

No one can really answer whether or not the police had been tipped off about the assassination and did nothing to stop it. No one can really say whether Dink was subjected to harassment by the authorities.

No one can really say if measures are taken so that we do not experience another such dreadful murder.

Only Interior Minister Besir Atalay could admit that the killing of Dink hurt Turkey's image abroad…

Turkey was shocked and some even saddened with the assassination of Dink. But we can hardly say this incident created an awareness of the monsters that have been created in Turkey.

Look at the flags that have been flying all over the country for months. Look at the nationalist sentiments that have been promoted with the deaths of our soldiers in PKK attacks.

All Artices of Ilnur Cevik

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