ArmInfo. Tomorrow, January 19, marks the 13th anniversary of the murder of a Turkish journalist of Armenian descent, the editor-in-chief of the ''Agos'' newspaper, Hrant Dink, however, the instigators of this crime have not been punished to this day.
In connection with the 13th anniversary of Dink's murder, the Armenian National Committee of Canada (ANCC) made a statement in which it noted that it remembers and honors the famous fighter for justice.
"Hrant Dink was more than a mere journalist reporting daily news and publishing opinion pieces: he epitomized the values of a tolerant and just society in a country marred by intolerance and injustice" said Hrag Tarakdjian, co-president of the ANCC.
Dink was shot in broad daylight by a young Turkish ultra-nationalist man, who was later praised and glorified, leaving international reactions into the investigation of the crime largely skeptical.
Dink's long-standing journalistic career and later his assassination forever changed the face of Turkish society.
"In the aftermath of his assassination, many hidden political sentiments within Turkish society were surfaced, when hundreds of thousands of Turks marched alongside Armenians, demonstrating their solidarity" said Shahen Mirakian, co-president of the ANCC.
Despite continuous death threats and trumped-up legal charges, Dink dedicated much of his career pressuring the Turkish government to come to terms with its criminal past, while urging the Turkish people to learn the truth about the Armenian Genocide and speak up for it. "While Hrant Dink's legacy continues to inspire people to this day, unfortunately the Turkish government has regressed into further authoritarianism, infamous for jailing the highest number of journalists in the world" said Tarakdjian and Mirakian.
"With so many fundamental human rights practically non-existent in Turkey today, Ankara can and should no longer be considered a so-called "NATO ally" that Canada and the rest of the international community can rely on" concluded Tarakdjian and Mirkian.
To note, Hrant Dink was killed on January 19, 2007 in Istanbul in front of the editorial office of his "Agos" newspaper. However, the instigators of the crime were never identified. The court sentenced only the murderer himself, Ogun Samastak, to imprisonment for 22 years 10 months, and Yasin Khayal, accused of incitement to murder, to life imprisonment. On September 17, 2013, the trial resumed. And on January 19, 2015, in the framework of the case, the ex-chief of police Dzhizre Ercan Demir was arrested, but the investigation has not yet been completed, and the customer has not been found. According to the decision of the European Court of Human Rights, the Turkish authorities violated the right of Hrant Dink to life and the right to freedom of speech. The ECHR sentenced Turkey to pay 133 thousand euros to the Hrant Dink family.