Armenian News

Today's Zaman, Turkey

March 18 2012

Dink killer says unknown person was involved in murder

18 March 2012 / TODAY'S ZAMAN, Ä°STANBUL

A previously unknown killer was involved in the 2007 murder of

Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, the shooter claimed about a

month after a court ruling sentenced him to 22 years in prison and

released all the other suspects.

Ogün Samast, who was still a minor when he shot Dink in broad daylight

five years ago, wrote a letter to the Taraf daily from his cell in

Kandıra Prison. According to the letter, which was published on

Saturday, he met with someone about three months before the

assassination. `We had tea with this person. I will explain later who

this person is and his connection to the murder,' he wrote.

Samast said he would be able to talk about the involvement of this

mysterious third person only after his appeal process in the Supreme

Court of Appeals is completed.

The Dink murder trial, according to Dink family lawyers and

independent observers, was a farce. The slow-paced trial ended in

January with the court releasing all the suspects that were accused of

having organized the murder and inciting Samast to kill Dink and

establishing that there was no link to organized crime in the

assassination. The verdict came in spite of a body of evidence that

steadily grew during the course of the trial, indicating there was

much more to it than the fury of an ultranationalist teenager.

The court acquitted 19 suspects of membership in a terrorist

organization. Two primary suspects, Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel, who

were accused of soliciting Samast to kill Dink and who both had

questionable ties to police and gendarmerie intelligence units, were

also released.

In his letter to Taraf, Samast alluded to the role of Tuncel, saying,

`He is not exactly the picture of innocence.' He said Tuncel was the

key in devising the plot to kill Dink, and he got off because of the

protection extended to him by higher ranking officials in the security

forces.

He sounded regretful in the letter. `I broke the law and made a

mistake, and I am paying for it with my youth and my life,' he wrote

ruefully. He said those people who made him kill Dink, portraying him

as an `enemy of the motherland,' should be investigated and charged.

He said he had not heard of Dink, or Agos, his newspaper, until he had

been misled into thinking they were targets to be destroyed. `If this

is not done, there will be many others.'

Samast also said he was forced by Hayal to commit the murder: `He

always told me to do it and to relax because I would only get six or

seven years and walk out. He threatened me; I didn't do it of my own

accord.' He also said Hayal was the one who gave him the address of

the Agos newspaper and pictures of the slain journalist.

On Sunday, Taraf published more of Samast's letter, which the

newspaper says was 25 pages long. `I am working on a book where I will

share many unknown points. I will publish it in the next four to five

months,' Samast wrote.

He also wrote mystical sounding paragraphs, saying: `I am living with

furrowed eyebrows in a dungeon, and I am taking the last boat of life

with no ticket. I have many scars created by the bullets of the lords

of this age. I also have some photographs shot in treacherous

studios.' The newspaper commented, `Samast also gave mysterious

messages' and interpreted Samast's words as an allusion to his

knowledge of the hitherto unknown person involved in the murder and

his intention of revealing his identity.

The verdict in the Dink trial caused outrage when it was first issued

in January, both at home and internationally. Tens of thousands in

Turkey marched in protest of the verdict, while many international

critics, including Council of Europe (CoE) Human Rights Commissioner

Thomas Hammarberg, issued a statement of condemnation. Turkish

politicians and leaders, including President Abdullah Gül, also

expressed disappointment with the verdict.

The Guardian (London)

March 17, 2012 Saturday

LETTER

Review: Feedback: Lemkin's legacy

AL Kennedy's timely appraisal of Raphael Lemkin's career ("My hero",

10 March) omits to mention that he was born in a region with

ever-changing boundaries and nationality conflicts; and that what

shaped his early attitudes was the spate of pogroms in Poland in

1918-19 and the widespread and brutal massacre of 50-60,000 Jews in

the Ukraine in the same period. It was this that made him understand

the plight of the Armenians, when the assassin of a Turkish

perpetrator was acquitted by a Berlin court in 1921; and led him not

only to devise the novel concept of genocide in international law, but

to inaugurate the study of mass killing throughout history, including

colonial genocides.

John Cooper

London

Armenia, Tuvalu establish diplomatic relations

armradio.am

17.03.2012 13:19

The Permanent Representatives of Armenia and Tuvalu in the UN Karen

Nazaryan and Falema Pita signed a joint communiqué on the

establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Armenia

and Tuvalu.

During the meeting at the Armenian Representation in New York the

parties agreed to develop the bilateral relations and promote the

cooperation between the two countries within the framework of

international organizations.

Tuvalu, formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is located in the

Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. It comprises four

reef islands and five true atolls. It occupies a territory of 26 km2.

Its population of 10,544 makes it the third-least populous sovereign

state in the world, with only Vatican City and Nauru having fewer

inhabitants. 98% of the population is Christian.

Tuvalu became fully independent on October 1, 1978. On September 5,

2000, it became the 189th member of the United Nations.

Hetq

Virtual Armenian Diaspora Museum Responds to My Critique 

Hrant Gadarigian

11:07, March 17, 2012

I received a reply from the editorial board of the Virtual Museum of

the Armenian Diaspora regarding my critique entitled `Diaspora

Ministry's Much Heralded Virtual Museum is a Virtual that appeared in

the March 15 edition of Hetq.

Here's my translation of their response:

*Thanks for following the activities of the Ministry of the Diaspora and

for visiting the newly launched Virtual Museum. We value each

observation,   opinion and constructive critique that leads to perfecting

that which exists.*

*As to the possible inaccuracies and inadequacies in the site, we wish to

stress that work is being carried out on a daily basis. We will correct

each and every inaccuracy therein and improve the translation and technical

capabilities. But we need time and assistance to accomplish all this. We

are ready to collaborate with all who desire to work on a joint basis and

can send us specific suggestions and observations.*

*We are certain that each project undertaken will succeed with a correct

synthesis of efforts.*

I am truly at a loss as to where to begin?

In essence, the Diaspora Ministry can only offer a feeble justification for

their wholly inadequate effort - a project that can now be accessed by

thousands via the internet.

I repeat, the Virtual Museum is indeed a `Virtual Embarrassment' that never

should have been launched in its present form.

By the way, in their reply, the editorial board used the word `confusion' (*

shpotutyun*) when translating `embarrassment'. Says quite a lot, no?

If this site is a work in progress, which even the editorial board

acknowledges is riddled with inaccuracies, poor language and other thematic

deficiencies, then why in God's name did they put it on the world-wide web

in the first place?

It is not merely a question of haphazard unprofessional planning and

execution, but a lack of any clearly defined goal. There are countless

other sites out there dealing with various aspects of the Diaspora - its

history, cultural legacy, origins - that are of better quality and scope.

One would have expected the Diaspora Ministry, an arm of the RA government,

to have tackled such a monumental task with a higher degree of

accountability and understanding.

Armenians aren't the only ones that will be visiting this site. We might

excuse

its serious shortcomings as yet another example of `business as usual', a

project of show more than substance.

I will not go into detail regarding the unacceptable translation, lack of a

cohesive thematic thread regarding the Diaspora, its historical

underpinnings, relations/symbiosis with the homeland, etc.

Such an analysis would require an exhaustive review regarding the purpose

of such a site in the first place. Does it merely wish to serve as a

compendium of dry facts and figures or does it aspire to something greater?

Suffice it to say that there is no mention, even in passing, of the Great

Repatriation of the Diaspora in the 1940s, the national reawakening and

liberation struggle in the Ottoman Empire of the 19th and 20th centuries,

the political upheavals that shook Middle East Armenian communities in the

post WWII decades, Diaspora-Armenia relations during the Soviet era...

These and other developments shaped and continue to shape the myriad

diaspora realities and identities that exist today.

Evidently, the Diaspora Ministry and the Virtual Museum board are

ill-equipped to broach these issues. If this is the case, then it would

have been prudent not to attempt such a grandiose project from the outset.

If I may be so bold to ask - who sits on this editorial board, what are

their credentials and whom, from the outside, did they sit down with for

advice and overall conceptual planning.

The Ministry cannot escape accountability by saying `this is what we've

done, good or bad' and then solicit assistance from experts and the

community at large. It's not how things are done on this scale.

Didn't the editorial board realize that their `in-house' resources were not

up to the task at hand?

The Diaspora Minister greets visitors to the site by noting: `Today, in

honour of 20th anniversary of the Armenian Republic, we have created the

Virtual Museum of Armenian Diaspora web-site.'

We can and must do better not only to honor this glorious anniversary but

to honor the road we have travelled and survived as a nation to reach this

point.

I agree with the Minister's words that `that unity is a guarantee of power

and progress'. But this must be crystallized with a unity of purpose and

vision.

On the eve of the 100th anniversary of the 1915 Armenian Genocide, I pray

and hope that the RA government will adopt a much more fastidious,

comprehensive and creative approach to public relations and perceptions.

Rest assured that there are many in Armenia and the Diaspora ready and

willing to contribute to this vital effort.

Anoush lini Sayat Novan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK8L_o2j8wA&feature=share