[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 20 (Thursday, February 1, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E228]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO HRANT DINK

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JOE BACA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, January 31, 2007

  Mr. BACA. Madam Speaker, on January 19, 2007, Hrant Dink, a 
distinguished Armenian journalist, was shot dead outside the offices of 
his newspaper Agos in Istanbul, Turkey. A progressive voice of reason 
and hope for Armenians living in Turkey and around the world, Hrant 
Dink fought tirelessly to engage the Turkish community in open 
discussion of the many injustices Armenians have experienced in the 
past and present including the Genocide of 1915 and current human 
rights violations.
  Hrant Dink struggied daily with the difficulties of disclosing the 
Armenian Genocide to the public in Turkey, yet he continued to make the 
difficult his lifelong passion. In his weekly columns, Dink often spoke 
of the complexities he felt being an Armenian who happened to be a 
citizen of Turkey--a country that fails to acknowledge that the 
Armenian Genocide occurred. As a result, Dink was charged and convicted 
of insulting Turkey's identity. In October 2005, after writing about 
the Armenian Genocide, he was given a 6-month suspended sentence.
  Hrant Dink was killed because he was a courageous and outspoken 
journalist and continued to write his columns in hopes of educating and 
informing the people of Turkey. As Turkey continues to evolve as a 
modern secular state, it must understand that democracy requires more 
than free elections; freedom of the press is essential.
  I express my condolences to the family, and colleagues of Hrant Dink. 
He was a courageous, committed columnist, and a mentor and friend to 
many. He will be remembered and missed.

                          ____________________