BY KHATCHIG MOURADIAN
From the Armenian Weekly
Four years after Armenian journalist Hrant Dink’s assassination on a street in Istanbul, I still have not reconciled myself with the “We are all Hrant Dink, We are all Armenian” mantra that thousands in Turkey chanted at Dink’s funeral, and hundreds of writers repeated in the months and years that followed.
Speaking at a Dink memorial event in Boston a few days after his assassination, I was not simply pointing out the obvious when I said that no one is Hrant Dink. I only saw one man—lying bullet-ridden, face down, on the sidewalk. He was alone. Where were all the other Hrant Dinks then?
After that fateful day—out of guilt, anger, or resignation, I do not know—many in Turkey who knew Hrant became more vocal. And many who hadn’t known him now did, and their lives were affected profoundly. Yet, despite the outpouring of emotion and ink, despite the outrage in Turkey and beyond, and despite—or should I say because of—the incessant repetition of “We are all Hrant Dink, We are all Armenian,” Hrant is no less lonely today than he was four years ago on that sidewalk.
After all, the individuals responsible for the crime have not been apprehended, and the person who allegedly pulled the trigger is counting the days until his imminent release. Moreover, Hrant’s name is being employed as a seal of approval and justification for the words and deeds of many of his colleagues and acquaintances—as if having known Hrant exempts one from the responsibilities that come with being a public intellectual.
To cement this edifice of infallibility by association, it was necessary to posthumously grant Hrant himself the status of infallibility. Oftentimes, critique of some of Hrant’s words and deeds has been dismissed categorically, without examination, and considered an insult to his memory. Worse, some progressive writers and activists in Turkey present their projects and products to Armenians, Turks, and the rest of the world by branding them as endorsed by Hrant—and therefore outside the realm of criticism.
No one is Hrant Dink. Even Hrant Dink was sometimes not himself, because one cannot fully be oneself—as a public intellectual and, more importantly, as an Armenian—and get away with it in Turkey, where the pressure to tone discourse down, to criticize and lament within limits, to applaud the most insignificant act of dissidence as the paragon of heroism is overwhelming, insurmountable.
No one, then, is Hrant Dink, and no one, by the way, is Armenian. Lecturing in air-conditioned rooms about the importance of Turkey confronting the past does not equip an intellectual or activist in Turkey today with the right to “share,” “feel,” and “understand” the pain of Armenians, and mourn their destruction and dispossession—let alone be Armenians.
Speaking in Istanbul on April 24 to a group of intellectuals and activists, the one message I tried to convey was the impossibility to share, feel, and understand—and, in the greater scheme of things, its unimportance. The Turkish national economy (milli ekonomi) was built to a considerable extent on the violent dispossession of Armenians. The power asymmetry between Turkey and Armenia today is a product of that dispossession. And the burden of dispossession makes words of sharing, feelings, and understanding ring hollow, no matter how genuine they are.
But there is a way forward. A true engagement with Armenians begins from the point of utter dispossession and humiliation—on the sands of Der Zor. It is time for citizens of Turkey to leave the air-conditioned halls and walk in Der Zor in remembrance and commemoration; and then contemplate meaningful steps of addressing and redressing the Armenian Genocide and its consequences.
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Land, Reparation and Restitution NOT Reconciliation.
Some Armenians just don’t get it. We see yet another collection of Armenians who are hell bent on reaching out and reforming Turks. it is not the job of Armenians to reach out, educate, reform, and play psychiatrists for Turks.
It is NOT the job of Armenians to “reform” Turkey, as desirable as that may be. We are not their psychiatrists or their nannies.
For Armenians who cling to every word uttered by a Turk or for an artificial gesture by a Turk to exhibit reform: it is not your job. We have our own country – Armenia – to reform.
Hrant Dink, Ara Guler and many other bolsohays were against other countries interference in the armenian genocide.Hrant used to say; If France adopts a law, where denying the armenian genocide would be punishable, he personaly would travel to France to breake the law.He was always speaking against “diaspora”.He was wrong.Turks will never admit that they have commited genocide against armenians, unless they are forced to do it.
There really is a lot of good Turks who were horrified. Unfortunately, they have no control right now. We are going to help start creating positive change. Let us not have vengeance in our hearts.
There really was a lot of dead Armenian who were murdered in the genocide. Unfortunately, they have no control right now. We are going to help obtain some justice. Let us have our lands and reparations.
He was excellent person i ve ever known, he was representing real Armenia, he could convince many people how armenian-turk relationship is very important
I was in Santa Maria Franciscan Church in Istanbul in December. As I was admiring the artwork in the church, three Turkish teens walked in. They were laughing and talking loudly, then they proceeded to light their cigarettes on candles near one of the statues. A caretaker had to chase them out of the church. When will these animals learn that harassing the Christian minority is not acceptable behavior?
Doesn’t such things happen in Christian countries? Muslims in Christian countries are harassed 1000 times more than Christians in Muslim countries
“Muslims in Christian countries are harassed 1000 times more than Christians in Muslim countries”
Therefore let’s harass the Christians in our countries. Good thinking, Ruslan. Idiot.
96 Years of Solitude + 4 Years of the Same = One Hundred Years of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s book)
smart heading, khatchig =)