This New York Times article's main focus is on the symbolism of a Turkish restaurant established at a newly opened mall in Athens...and the relative success it has enjoyed as Greek patrons enjoy dining there:
All is definitely not forgiven, but a warmer climate between Greece and Turkey is showing up in the daily lives of Greeks. From pricey stores to growing tourism, from belly dancing to a Turkish television show popular here with its Romeo-and-Juliet theme played out by a Greek man and a Turkish woman, cultural barriers are eroding here. Such things are changing faster, perhaps, than the political differences that still divide the two nations.
What Greeks say they are learning in this glasnost of food, fashion and travel is that, for good and bad, much still unites the two countries — one at the edge of Europe, the other at the edge of Asia.
Both share a fascination for baklava and the stuffed leaves known as dolmades. And then there is kokoretsi (if you are Greek) or kokorec (if you are Turkish). Both nations claim this dish — lamb intestines, heart, liver and lungs or kidneys, or both.
The Turkish version is on the menu at Tike, an upscale chain restaurant popular in Turkey, and now doing well in Greece, too.
“Turkish food is very close to our tradition,” said Alexandros Louvaris, 37, a prominent Greek businessman who opened the restaurant in northern Athens two years ago with Turkish partners and 11 imported Turkish chefs and other employees. “O.K., so we had the Turks here for 400 years. Some things stayed.”
Aside from cuisine (which, like music, art, fashion and general culture is often leaps and bounds ahead in helping build bridges among people and nations), the article highlights other elements of what clever political scientists would call "Soft Power" which are at work beginning a slight warming of rleations between Greeks and Turks.
But the changes are broader. They began in many ways in 1999, when a pair of earthquakes — one in Turkey, one in Greece — spurred mutual rescue teams and sympathy.
The “earthquake diplomacy” was followed by a rise in tourism: 540,000 Greeks visited Turkey in 2005, up from 350,000 in 2001 (though the number dropped last year to 480,000, after several attacks in Turkey and worries about the Iraq war, tourism officials say).
I found this reference to "earthquake diplomacy" to be timely, as I first heard of it just a few days ago. A colleague drew the parallel between 1999's "earthquake diplomacy" with the tragedy of Hrant Dink's assasination which seemed (seemed) to have brought Armenians and Turks together- if for a moment. It's unfortunate to realize that sadness and tragedy are often the impetus to bring people together. Nonetheless, a shared sentiment is a shared sentiment, and the first way to feel connected to other human beings is to recognize that they are more similar than different from you.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
They said it, not me...
I haven't even had the time to write my own comments on what I think of the coverage, reaction and symbolism of Hrant's death and IHT has already gotten to a core conclusion that I think was already on the tip of most Armenians' tongues...mine included.
ANKARA, Turkey
full article here: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/26/europe/EU-GEN-Turkey-Nationalist-Backlash.php
Hopes for reconciliation fade following funeral of slain Turkish journalist
Thursday, January 25, 2007
As waves of mourners rolled through the streets of Istanbul this week in honor of slain ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, many liberal Turks were swept up in a sense that an unprecedented chance for ethnic reconciliation was at hand.
But just two days later, a darker reality was setting in: Many Turks are rejecting the appeals for solidarity and democratic reform as ultranationalists — some inspired by hardcore Islam — become ever more strident and daring.
A large proportion of the tens of thousands who joined Dink's funeral procession were urban intellectuals, hardly representative of a nation of more than 70 million people where conservative Islamic values are deep-seated and the military is the most trusted institution.
In fact, many Turks support the views of nationalists who are becoming increasingly vocal in their condemnation of Western values they feel are being imposed on them by the European Union, which is considering Turkey's membership bid.
Dink had been forced to stand trial by nationalists angered by his calls to recognize the killings of Armenians in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire as a genocide. He was gunned down Friday in front of the offices of his bilingual Armenian-Turkish newspaper — allegedly by a teenager who had been incited to the crime by ultrarightists.
During his funeral procession on Tuesday, mourners chanted "We are all Armenians," urged liberal reform and called for the repeal of the law used to convict Dink on charges of "insulting Turkishness."
However, most Turks interviewed by The Associated Press on Thursday said the marchers did not represent the country and said they were against making concessions to Armenians on the sensitive issue of the killings.
"They should speak for themselves, they cannot speak on behalf of Turks," said Filiz Un, 32. "I am sorry for him as a human but they cannot pretend that all the Turkish public is behind them."
Turkey's expulsion and killings of Armenians during World War I — which Armenians say claimed 1.5 million lives — is a dark chapter rarely discussed publicly in Turkey or taught in its schools.
Turkey vehemently denies it was genocide and is battling Armenian diaspora groups that are pushing European governments and the United States to declare the killings genocide.
A headline in the right-wing newspaper Tercuman said that those who aren't proud to be Turkish "should clear off and leave." The article ran a day after a threat against Nobel prize-winner Orhan Pamuk by a handcuffed suspect charged with inciting the murder of Dink.
Turkey's largest nationalist party responded to the mourners' chants by posting its own slogan — "We are all Turks" — on a digital display outside a local party branch in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya.
..."There is a fault line passing right through the middle of society," wrote Turker Alkan, a columnist for the center-left Radikal newspaper. "Those who cannot reconcile Hrant Dink's murder with humanity, consciousness and moral values are on the one side; those who don't really oppose the murder because of their nationalist sentiments and their religious beliefs are on the other."
Selami Ince, news editor of the Istanbul-based Alawite television, Su TV, explained that few of the marchers at the funeral were Turks with roots in the Anatolian heartland.
"Unfortunately, they do not represent the Turkish public," Ince said. "The Turkish public has not filled the streets with demands of democracy and freedom. They were leftists, Armenians, Kurds and those intellectuals who favor multiculturalism."
....full article here: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/26/europe/EU-GEN-Turkey-Nationalist-Backlash.php
Like Water
"the idea is to remain in a state of constant departure, while always arriving; it saves on introductions and goodbyes."
- waking life
- waking life
Friday, January 19, 2007
More on the troubling story...
i will save my comments for later...
ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- Angry, saddened Turks took to the streets of Istanbul and other cities Friday night to mourn the death of a prominent Turkish journalist of Armenian descent who was gunned down earlier in the day in front of his newspaper office.
Hrant Dink was editor of the Armenian-Turkish-language weekly Agos newspaper. He was known for speaking out against the killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire early in the last century and being in trouble with the law because of his remarks about that topic.
The killing shocked all of Turkey, where Dink also has earned a reputation for promoting dialogue between Turks and Armenians, backing open borders between Turkey and the nation of Armenia, and expressing a love of his Turkish homeland.
Protesters in Istanbul walked slowly and somberly Friday night, holding candles, wielding banners and waving flags. They carried signs and chanted phrases such as "We are all Hrant Dink and we are all Armenians."
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other government officials denounced the crime, and authorities vowed to find the killer.
Erdogan said the attack was a "shock" and an "insult" to the Turkish nation and a "dark day" -- not only for Dink's family but also for all of Turkey.
"The dark hands that killed him will be found and punished," Erdogan said in televised remarks.
Authorities are looking into a lead that Dink was shot by a man who appeared to be 18 or 19 years old. Dink's body could be seen covered with a white sheet in front of the newspaper's entrance before an emergency vehicle came to take it away.
He was said to be in his early 50s.
Editor addressed Armenian-Turk issues squarely
Described as a "well-known commentator on Armenian affairs," Dink had been called into court a number of times on allegations of "insulting" the Turkish state in his writing.
"Some of the trial hearings have been marred by violent scenes inside and outside the courtrooms, instigated by nationalist activists calling for Dink to be punished," says a profile on the Web site of PEN American Center -- the writers' group that defends free expression.
Agos was established in 1996, and Dink didn't shy away from dealing with the controversies in that region over the killings of Armenians from 1915 through 1917 -- a hot-button issue in Turkey.
Armenians and other countries regard those killings as genocide, a claim rejected by the Turkish government, which says Armenians and Turks were killed in civil warfare.
Andrew Finkel, a journalist in Turkey and a friend of Dink's, emphasized that Dink's killing was "a tragedy" for a country attempting to come to terms with its past.
Finkel said resentment toward Dink existed among ultranationalist Turks, and the people who staged "ugly scenes" at his trials are the same ones who staged rallies directed at Orhan Pamuk, the Nobel Prize-winning Turkish writer who faced charges of insulting Turkishness as well.
He described Dink as a bright and brash man who was a well-known figure in Istanbul and an advocate for Turkey's small Armenian community -- a once-populous group now numbering around 60,000 or 70,000.
"If anything, he was a great Turkish patriot," Finkel told CNN.
"Mr. Dink, for all the libels against him, for all the opposition that was against him in certain sections of the right-wing Turkish press, was really in favor of Turkish and Armenian neighbors being able to look each other in their face and recognize their past histories. He was a courageous man who died in a terrible way."
Joel Campagna, Mideast program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, said, "Like dozens of other Turkish journalists, Hrant Dink has faced political persecution because of his work. Now it appears he's paid the ultimate price for it."
Campagna said that Turkey "must ensure that this crime does not go unpunished like other cases in the past and that those responsible for his murder are brought to justice."
He said that over the last 15 years, 18 Turkish journalists have been killed -- making the country the eighth deadliest in the world for journalists in that period. He said many of the deaths took place in the early 1990s, at the peak of the Kurdish separatist insurgency.
Reporters Without Borders, another journalists' advocacy group, also said a proper investigation is needed, underscoring its position that "this will be a key test for a country that hopes to join the European Union. No one would understand if Turkey failed to do everything possible to shed light on this tragedy."
Turkey has long sought membership in the EU.
Provocative articles prompt charges
PEN American Center said Dink's publication sought to "provide a voice to the Armenian community and create a dialogue between Turks and Armenians."
The group said that before his killing, "Dink had complained of death threats he was receiving from nationalists."
"We are horrified," said Larry Siems, director of Freedom to Write and International Programs at PEN American Center. "Hrant Dink was one of the heroes of the nonviolent movement for freedom of expression in Turkey."
PEN listed some of the cases that made Dink a controversial figure:
In 2001, the Turkish government suspended publication of Agos when Dink advocated acknowledgement of genocide. He was acquitted and publication resumed.
In 2004, the government interpreted part of a Dink article as anti-Turk; he received a six-month suspended sentence. In his appeal, Dink said, "As long as I live (in Turkey), I will go on telling the truth, just as I always have.'"
In February 2006 he was acquitted of insulting the Turkish state for his criticism in 2002 of a verse in the Turkish national anthem.
In July 2006 he received another six-month suspended sentence after writing an article that called for Armenians to "now turn their attention to the new life offered by an independent Armenia."
One week later, the Istanbul public prosecutor opened a new case against Dink for referring to the 1915 massacre of Armenians as genocide during a July 14 interview with Reuters. Dink was awaiting his trial on those charges when he was killed.
Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America, told CNN that the case is the "product of the environment that the Turkish government has created" -- its persistent denial that the killings of the Armenians last century did not amount to genocide.
Said Hamparian: "Turkey needs to come to grips with its past."
ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- Angry, saddened Turks took to the streets of Istanbul and other cities Friday night to mourn the death of a prominent Turkish journalist of Armenian descent who was gunned down earlier in the day in front of his newspaper office.
Hrant Dink was editor of the Armenian-Turkish-language weekly Agos newspaper. He was known for speaking out against the killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire early in the last century and being in trouble with the law because of his remarks about that topic.
The killing shocked all of Turkey, where Dink also has earned a reputation for promoting dialogue between Turks and Armenians, backing open borders between Turkey and the nation of Armenia, and expressing a love of his Turkish homeland.
Protesters in Istanbul walked slowly and somberly Friday night, holding candles, wielding banners and waving flags. They carried signs and chanted phrases such as "We are all Hrant Dink and we are all Armenians."
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other government officials denounced the crime, and authorities vowed to find the killer.
Erdogan said the attack was a "shock" and an "insult" to the Turkish nation and a "dark day" -- not only for Dink's family but also for all of Turkey.
"The dark hands that killed him will be found and punished," Erdogan said in televised remarks.
Authorities are looking into a lead that Dink was shot by a man who appeared to be 18 or 19 years old. Dink's body could be seen covered with a white sheet in front of the newspaper's entrance before an emergency vehicle came to take it away.
He was said to be in his early 50s.
Editor addressed Armenian-Turk issues squarely
Described as a "well-known commentator on Armenian affairs," Dink had been called into court a number of times on allegations of "insulting" the Turkish state in his writing.
"Some of the trial hearings have been marred by violent scenes inside and outside the courtrooms, instigated by nationalist activists calling for Dink to be punished," says a profile on the Web site of PEN American Center -- the writers' group that defends free expression.
Agos was established in 1996, and Dink didn't shy away from dealing with the controversies in that region over the killings of Armenians from 1915 through 1917 -- a hot-button issue in Turkey.
Armenians and other countries regard those killings as genocide, a claim rejected by the Turkish government, which says Armenians and Turks were killed in civil warfare.
Andrew Finkel, a journalist in Turkey and a friend of Dink's, emphasized that Dink's killing was "a tragedy" for a country attempting to come to terms with its past.
Finkel said resentment toward Dink existed among ultranationalist Turks, and the people who staged "ugly scenes" at his trials are the same ones who staged rallies directed at Orhan Pamuk, the Nobel Prize-winning Turkish writer who faced charges of insulting Turkishness as well.
He described Dink as a bright and brash man who was a well-known figure in Istanbul and an advocate for Turkey's small Armenian community -- a once-populous group now numbering around 60,000 or 70,000.
"If anything, he was a great Turkish patriot," Finkel told CNN.
"Mr. Dink, for all the libels against him, for all the opposition that was against him in certain sections of the right-wing Turkish press, was really in favor of Turkish and Armenian neighbors being able to look each other in their face and recognize their past histories. He was a courageous man who died in a terrible way."
Joel Campagna, Mideast program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, said, "Like dozens of other Turkish journalists, Hrant Dink has faced political persecution because of his work. Now it appears he's paid the ultimate price for it."
Campagna said that Turkey "must ensure that this crime does not go unpunished like other cases in the past and that those responsible for his murder are brought to justice."
He said that over the last 15 years, 18 Turkish journalists have been killed -- making the country the eighth deadliest in the world for journalists in that period. He said many of the deaths took place in the early 1990s, at the peak of the Kurdish separatist insurgency.
Reporters Without Borders, another journalists' advocacy group, also said a proper investigation is needed, underscoring its position that "this will be a key test for a country that hopes to join the European Union. No one would understand if Turkey failed to do everything possible to shed light on this tragedy."
Turkey has long sought membership in the EU.
Provocative articles prompt charges
PEN American Center said Dink's publication sought to "provide a voice to the Armenian community and create a dialogue between Turks and Armenians."
The group said that before his killing, "Dink had complained of death threats he was receiving from nationalists."
"We are horrified," said Larry Siems, director of Freedom to Write and International Programs at PEN American Center. "Hrant Dink was one of the heroes of the nonviolent movement for freedom of expression in Turkey."
PEN listed some of the cases that made Dink a controversial figure:
In 2001, the Turkish government suspended publication of Agos when Dink advocated acknowledgement of genocide. He was acquitted and publication resumed.
In 2004, the government interpreted part of a Dink article as anti-Turk; he received a six-month suspended sentence. In his appeal, Dink said, "As long as I live (in Turkey), I will go on telling the truth, just as I always have.'"
In February 2006 he was acquitted of insulting the Turkish state for his criticism in 2002 of a verse in the Turkish national anthem.
In July 2006 he received another six-month suspended sentence after writing an article that called for Armenians to "now turn their attention to the new life offered by an independent Armenia."
One week later, the Istanbul public prosecutor opened a new case against Dink for referring to the 1915 massacre of Armenians as genocide during a July 14 interview with Reuters. Dink was awaiting his trial on those charges when he was killed.
Aram Hamparian, executive director of the Armenian National Committee of America, told CNN that the case is the "product of the environment that the Turkish government has created" -- its persistent denial that the killings of the Armenians last century did not amount to genocide.
Said Hamparian: "Turkey needs to come to grips with its past."
Murder of Hrant Dink, Journalist
a somewhat incomplete article, but it's the first one I could find. more to follow.
Outspoken journalist shot dead in Istanbul
POSTED: 10:48 a.m. EST, January 19, 2007
ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- A prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist who spoke out against the killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire early last century was shot to death Friday.
Hrant Dink, 53, editor of the Armenian-Turkish language weekly Agos newspaper, was shot dead in front of the Istanbul publication as he was leaving.
The killing prompted swift denunciation by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said the attack was a "shock" and an "insult" to the Turkish nation and a "dark day" -- not only for Dink's family but for all of Turkey as well.
"The dark hands that killed him will be found and punished," Erdogan said, in televised remarks.
Authorities are looking into a lead that he was shot four times by a young man who appeared to be 18 or 19 years old.
Described as a "well-known commentator on Armenian affairs," Dink has faced a number of cases in connection with "insulting" the Turkish state for his writings.
"Some of the trial hearings have been marred by violent scenes inside and outside the courtrooms, instigated by nationalist activists calling for Dink to be punished," said a profile on the Web site of Pen American Center -- the writers' group that promotes free expression.
Agos, an Armenian-Turkish language weekly, was established in 1996.
Andrew Finkel, a journalist in Turkey and a friend of Dink's, emphasized that the killing was "a tragedy" for a country attempting to "come to terms with its past."
Finkel said resentment toward Dink existed among ultranationalist Turks, and said the same people who staged "ugly scenes" at his trials are the same people who staged rallies directed at Orhan Pamuk, the Nobel Prize-winning Turkish writer who faced charges of insulting Turkishness as well.
He described Dink as a "bright" and brash" man who was a "well-known figure in Istanbul" and an advocate for Turkey's small Armenian community -- a once-populous group now numbering around 60,000 or 70,000.
"If anything, he was a great Turkish patriot," Finkel told CNN in an interview.
Pen's profile said that in 2005, Dink "had been charged for an article published in Agos in which he discussed the impact on present day Armenian diaspora of the killings of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by the Ottoman army in 1915-17."
Hot-button issue
This is a hot-button issue in the region, Pen notes.
Armenians and other countries regard the killings of Armenians in the early 20th century as a a genocide, a claim rejected by the Turkish government, which says Armenians and Turks were killed in civil warfare.
Dink was one of the most prominent voices of Turkey's shrinking Armenian community.
A Turkish citizen of Armenian descent, he had received threats from nationalists, who viewed him as a traitor.
In an earlier interview with The Associated Press, Dink had cried as he talked about some of his fellow countrymen's hatred for him, saying he could not stay in a country where he was unwanted.
Joel Campagna, Mideast program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, said, "Like dozens of other Turkish journalists, Hrant Dink has faced political persecution because of his work. Now it appears he's paid the ultimate price for it."
Campagna said that Turkey "must ensure that this crime does not go unpunished like other cases in the past and that those responsible for his murder are brought to justice."
He said that over the last 15 years, 18 Turkish journalists have been killed -- making the country the eighth deadliest in the world for journalists in that period. He said that many of the deaths took place in the early 1990s "at the peak of the Kurdish separatist insurgency."
He said killings, other attacks against journalists that don't result in deaths, and the many cases of Turkish journalists facing criminal charges under "vague statutes" create a "chilling effect" among media workers.
Private NTV television said police were searching for the suspected murderer, believed to be a teenager wearing a white hat and a denim jacket, but the identity and motivation of the shooter were unknown, AP reported.
Dink's body could be seen covered with a white sheet in front of the newspaper's entrance. NTV said four empty shell casings were found on the ground and that he was killed by two bullets to the head.
Fehmi Koru, a columnist at the Yeni Safak newspaper, said the murder was aimed at destabilizing Turkey.
"His loss is the loss of Turkey," Koru said.
Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
Outspoken journalist shot dead in Istanbul
POSTED: 10:48 a.m. EST, January 19, 2007
ISTANBUL, Turkey (CNN) -- A prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist who spoke out against the killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire early last century was shot to death Friday.
Hrant Dink, 53, editor of the Armenian-Turkish language weekly Agos newspaper, was shot dead in front of the Istanbul publication as he was leaving.
The killing prompted swift denunciation by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said the attack was a "shock" and an "insult" to the Turkish nation and a "dark day" -- not only for Dink's family but for all of Turkey as well.
"The dark hands that killed him will be found and punished," Erdogan said, in televised remarks.
Authorities are looking into a lead that he was shot four times by a young man who appeared to be 18 or 19 years old.
Described as a "well-known commentator on Armenian affairs," Dink has faced a number of cases in connection with "insulting" the Turkish state for his writings.
"Some of the trial hearings have been marred by violent scenes inside and outside the courtrooms, instigated by nationalist activists calling for Dink to be punished," said a profile on the Web site of Pen American Center -- the writers' group that promotes free expression.
Agos, an Armenian-Turkish language weekly, was established in 1996.
Andrew Finkel, a journalist in Turkey and a friend of Dink's, emphasized that the killing was "a tragedy" for a country attempting to "come to terms with its past."
Finkel said resentment toward Dink existed among ultranationalist Turks, and said the same people who staged "ugly scenes" at his trials are the same people who staged rallies directed at Orhan Pamuk, the Nobel Prize-winning Turkish writer who faced charges of insulting Turkishness as well.
He described Dink as a "bright" and brash" man who was a "well-known figure in Istanbul" and an advocate for Turkey's small Armenian community -- a once-populous group now numbering around 60,000 or 70,000.
"If anything, he was a great Turkish patriot," Finkel told CNN in an interview.
Pen's profile said that in 2005, Dink "had been charged for an article published in Agos in which he discussed the impact on present day Armenian diaspora of the killings of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by the Ottoman army in 1915-17."
Hot-button issue
This is a hot-button issue in the region, Pen notes.
Armenians and other countries regard the killings of Armenians in the early 20th century as a a genocide, a claim rejected by the Turkish government, which says Armenians and Turks were killed in civil warfare.
Dink was one of the most prominent voices of Turkey's shrinking Armenian community.
A Turkish citizen of Armenian descent, he had received threats from nationalists, who viewed him as a traitor.
In an earlier interview with The Associated Press, Dink had cried as he talked about some of his fellow countrymen's hatred for him, saying he could not stay in a country where he was unwanted.
Joel Campagna, Mideast program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, said, "Like dozens of other Turkish journalists, Hrant Dink has faced political persecution because of his work. Now it appears he's paid the ultimate price for it."
Campagna said that Turkey "must ensure that this crime does not go unpunished like other cases in the past and that those responsible for his murder are brought to justice."
He said that over the last 15 years, 18 Turkish journalists have been killed -- making the country the eighth deadliest in the world for journalists in that period. He said that many of the deaths took place in the early 1990s "at the peak of the Kurdish separatist insurgency."
He said killings, other attacks against journalists that don't result in deaths, and the many cases of Turkish journalists facing criminal charges under "vague statutes" create a "chilling effect" among media workers.
Private NTV television said police were searching for the suspected murderer, believed to be a teenager wearing a white hat and a denim jacket, but the identity and motivation of the shooter were unknown, AP reported.
Dink's body could be seen covered with a white sheet in front of the newspaper's entrance. NTV said four empty shell casings were found on the ground and that he was killed by two bullets to the head.
Fehmi Koru, a columnist at the Yeni Safak newspaper, said the murder was aimed at destabilizing Turkey.
"His loss is the loss of Turkey," Koru said.
Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)