Arat Dink

Arat Dink (born 1979) is a Turkish journalist and the executive editor of Agos, a bilingual Turkish-Armenian weekly newspaper published in Istanbul. He is the son of Rakel Dink and Hrant Dink, the former editor-in-chief of the same paper, who was murdered by Ogün Samast, a Turkish ultra-nationalist who was seventeen years old at the time.

Trial on Hrant Dink's assassination

Arat Dink was brought to trial as a co-defendant as the executive editor of Agos along with Serkis Seropyan, holder of the weekly's publishing license in the third and last case that was opened against Hrant Dink on charges of 'denigrating Turkishness' under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code.[1][2] The charge was pressed in September 2006 after Agos republished a 14 July 2006 interview of Hrant Dink by the Reuters news agency where Hrant Dink referred to the 1915 massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire as genocide.[3]

The charges against Hrant Dink were dropped in the first hearing of the case, originally scheduled for 22 March 2007 and rescheduled to 14 June 2007 due to his death and continued for Serkis Seropyan and Arat Dink, with the second hearing scheduled for 18 July 2007.[2] At the court hearing, Arat Dink accused judges of contributing to his father's death by making him a target thanks to their high-profile judicial proceedings. "I think it is primitive, absurd and dangerous to consider as an insult to Turkish identity the recognition of a historic event as a genocide," he said, quoted by the Anatolia news agency.[4]

Trial of Arat Dink for insulting Turkey's identity

On 11 October 2007 Arat Dink was convicted of insulting Turkey's identity for republishing his father's remarks. He was given a one-year suspended sentence for "insulting Turkishness", like his father before him.[5]

Awards

He was awarded the Guardian Journalism Award by Index on Censorship on 21 April 2008.[6]

References
  1. "Turkey: Prosecution of journalist is harassment" (Press release). Amnesty International, UK. 27 September 2006. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 24 January 2007.
  2. "Two acquittals, one postponement". Agos. 15 June 2007. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  3. "PEN Alarmed by Murder of Armenian-Turkish Journalist" (Press release). PEN American Center. 19 January 2007. Archived from the original on 4 February 2007. Retrieved 24 January 2007.
  4. Danielian, Gayane (18 June 2007). "Kocharian honors slain Turkish-Armenian editor". Retrieved 26 June 2007.
  5. "Son of slain ethnic Armenian journalist is convicted in Turkey of 'insulting Turkishness'". International Herald Tribune. 11 October 2007. Retrieved 11 October 2007.
  6. "In praise of ... Arat Dink". The Guardian. 23 April 2008. Retrieved 1 July 2008.


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