Assassinated journalist remembered at his grave

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Emeç’s wife, Bilge Emeç, and children attended the commemoration while Enis Berberoğlu, Hürriyet’s current editor-in-chief, was also present at the ceremony. DHA photo

On the 22nd anniversary of his murder, Çetin Emeç, who served as Daily Hürriyet Editor-in-Chief for several years, was commemorated yesterday at Istanbul’s Zincirlikuyu cemetery. Emeç’s wife, Bilge Emeç, and children attended the commemoration while Enis Berberoğlu, Hürriyet’s current editor-in-chief, was also present yesterday at the ceremony.“All I can say is desperation. I have been coming here, this cemetery for the last 22 years on this day. Hearing the same sentences every year and [reiterating] the darkness about his murder is not giving me relief,” said Berberoğlu.

Unsolved murder

Emeç was known for his open criticism of radical Islamic groups in Turkey and was shot to death by masked gunmen along with his driver, Sinan Ercan, on March 7, 1990, in front of his home in Istanbul’s Suadiye neighborhood. His murder has never been solved.

Soon after the attack, the outlawed Union of Turkish Islamist Commandos, an Iranian-based militant group, claimed responsibility for the murders, as did the outlawed leftist militant group, the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C).

Whoever killed Emeç wanted to kill the free press or imprison it, Berberoğlu said, adding that every editor-in-chief of Hürriyet refused to let the murdered journalist and his ideals be forgotten by publishing the newspaper every day.