TURKEY

On the 8th anniversary of Hrant Dink’s assassination, poet and playwright Murathan Mungan spoke to the crowd gathered fort he commemoration ceremony: “One of Hrant Dink’s dreams was the opening of borders between Armenia and Turkey to allow for the two peoples to commingle. Friends, we should own up not only to the memory of our lost loved ones, but also to their dreams. And if that border were to be opened today, it would mean opening the door to so many other things. (…) The opening of that border would so much become the year 2015.”

Agos founder and chief editor Hrant Dink was commemorated at his graveside on the 8th anniversary of his assassination with a ceremony attended by his family and friends.

From the January 19 editorial of Agos: It has been eight years since Hrant Dink was shot to death in front the offices of his own newspaper. From 2007 to 2015, the eight years that passed with the expectation and demand for justice. But that is not all; since 1915, a century has passed with the same expectation and demand.

A new stay of execution verdict has been issued for the continuing construction project at the site of the historical Emek Movie Theatre. On the other hand, the State Council ruled for the launching of an investigation involving four persons including Beyoğlu Mayor Ahmet Misbah Demircan on the grounds that they had not taken “necessary precautions during the construction”.

Prime Minister came together with representatives of minority communities at an official dinner held in Istanbul: “Our main watchword will continue to be the principle of equal citizenship”

Mehmet Uluışık’s story clearly disproves the official claim that ‘archives in Turkey are open to everyone’. According to Uluışık, who has been banned from entering Turkey because of his research on the Armenian and Circassian Genocides in archives, even if this ban were to be lifted, he still would not be able to carry out research since a letter from MİT, the National Intelligence Organization, prevents his entry into archives.

Zuart Sudjian wages formidable legal battle for the return of land that belongs to her family, unlawfully seized by the State and site of Diyarbakır Airport today

Following Murat Bardakçı’s claim that dispatch registers kept following the decision of forced displacement in 1915 had been hidden by a Turkish Historical Society (TTK) officer, a response is expected from former high-ranking administrators of the institution.

Journalist Murat Bardakçı has announced that a Turkish Historical Society [TTK] official removed ‘dispatch registers’ kept after the deportation law was issued in 1915 from the Ottoman archives, and hid them in the archive of another institution. According to Bardakçı, this was done not by official procedure, but was the outcome of an individual’s interference. Even the newly changed administration of the Turkish Historical Society does not know where these documents are located at present.