[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 18 (Tuesday, January 30, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E215]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   HRANT DINK'S DEATH A LOSS FOR MANY

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                        HON. MICHAEL E. CAPUANO

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 30, 2007

  Mr. CAPUANO. Madam Speaker, I supported H. Res. 102 and I condemn in 
the strongest possible terms the cowardly murder of journalist Hrant 
Dink in Istanbul on January 19. I find particularly contemptible the 
actions of those who seemingly chose a seventeen-year-old youth--the 
alleged killer--to commit this appalling crime. This despicable act 
should not, however, obscure the inspiring solidarity of tens of 
thousands of secular, Muslim, and Armenian Christian Turks who filed 
past Mr. Dink's bier and marched in his funeral procession. Western 
news media have estimated the crowds between 50,000 and. 100,000. 
Important Turkish officials, such as Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali 
Sahin; Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu; the governor of Istanbul, 
Muammer Guler; the head of the security forces, Celalettin Cerrah; and 
two generals joined Arman Kirakossian, the deputy Foreign Minister of 
Armenia, and other Armenian officials at the funeral service.
  Everyone in the world who cherishes freedom and brotherhood must take 
heart when signs proclaiming ``We are all Armenians'' are carried 
through the streets of Istanbul. I wish to express my condolences to 
the family and friends of Hrant Dink. I want also to express my 
profound respect for all his fellow citizens who protested his murder 
and mourned his death.

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