Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink commemorated seven years after his murder

ISTANBUL

A march will be organized on Jan. 19 starting at 1:30 p.m. from Taksim Square and ending in front of Agos newspapers' building. AA photo

Seven years have already passed since the hate murder against Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, the highly esteemed former editor-in-chief of weekly Agos, as a new commemoration looms without light having been shed to the killing.

Police have taken tight security measures around Istanbul’s Taksim Squre and closed Gezi Park, ahead of the planned commemoration of Dink on the anniversary of his murder.

The Friends of Hrant Dink organization, established in memory of the late journalist, has called for a march Jan. 19 starting at 1:30 p.m. from Taksim Square and will end with homage to Dink in front of Agos newspaper’s building in Pangaltı.

In the sidelines of the march, the Hrant Dink Human Rights Conference was organized for the sixth time at Boğaziçi University with the attendance of the renowned French sociologist Loïc Wacquant.

Another commemorative event was held in front of the house where Dink was born in his native Malatya on Jan. 18. 

Dink was murdered in broad daylight in front of his newspaper’s building on Jan. 19, 2007 by a 17-year-old Turkish nationalist. The triggerman Ogün Samast was convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to 22 years and 10 months of prison after a two year-trial, but the trial pertaining to the plotters of the assassination has since become a byzantine lawsuit.

The court also ruled Dink’s murder was not from organized crime, despite serious claims that some civil servants linked to the “deep state” were “indirectly” involved to the dismay of Dink’s family and supporters.

The acquittal of top suspects was ultimately overturned by the Supreme Court of Appeals and many key suspects charged as the instigators of the murder, such as Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel, are currently being retried.

The callers of the commemorative march have also denounced the trial process, blaming the state for protecting those responsible for the murder. 

The march will one more year use the slogan “Buradayız Ahparig!” (We are here, brother[in Armenian]) to draw attention to the trial process. 

The Friends of Hrant Dink organization claims that almost all of the civil servants who were involved in the death of the journalist were promoted by the government.