Outspoken journalist Hrant Dink was killed on this day by an extremist Turkish Nationalist. He was a prominent Armenian-Turk and had written a substantial body of material about Turkish Armenian relations.
On a visit to Australia, together with Armenian-Turkish academic, Etyen Mahcupyan (now advisor to the Turkish PM), they were roundly criticised and attacked by the ANC for their refusal to join the ‘genocide recognition’ bandwagon. Whilst both persons believed that the events would fit the definition on genocide, neither thought the activities of groups like the ANC were helpful. For this reason some of the Armenian diaspora hated Dink more than extreme nationalist Turks.
They were critical of foreign governments who had been lobbied to pass genocide ‘recognition’ resolutions. Neither believed that this was the role of foreign politicians, but that the issues needed open discussion between academics. ATA-A unreservedly supports this position and commemorates the life of an honourable man.
Vale Hrant Dink.
