[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 7 (Thursday, January 17, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E44-E45]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  COMMEMORATING THE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE ASSASSINATION OF MR. 
                               HRANT DINK

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOSEPH CROWLEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 17, 2008

  Mr. CROWLEY. Madam Speaker, I rise today to solemnly remember the 
life of journalist and activist, Hrant Dink,
  On January 19th, 2007, Mr. Dink was gunned down by a Turkish ultra-
nationalist outside his newspaper office in Istanbul, Turkey.
  Hrant Dink was a man who called for tolerance, peaceful dialogue and 
greater civil rights for all Turkish citizens. He was a fierce defender 
of freedom and believed all people have equal rights under the law. He 
believed that everyone should have the right to know the truth about 
their nation's past, however dark that past was.
  Hrant Dink had been prosecuted by the Turkish government under penal 
code 301--a

[[Page E45]]

law that bans free speech and was used to suppress a wide range of 
dissenting opinions, from criticism of Turkish government institutions 
to opposing official Turkish denial of the Ottoman campaign of genocide 
against its Armenian population. Under the all-encompassing phrase 
``insulting Turkishness'' a citizen in Turkey can receive a prison 
sentence of up to three years, with the offence being increased 50 
percent if the so-called offence is committed abroad.
  Nearly 100 journalists and intellectuals have been prosecuted under 
Article 301--including Nobel Prize author Orhan Pamuk. Many informed 
observers believe Hrant Dink's prosecution under Article 301 opened him 
up to a campaign of harassment and death threats from ultra-
nationalists, which led to his eventual murder. To this day, citizens 
of Turkey live under threat of this gag-law, with Hrant Dink's own son 
prosecuted because he reprinted his father's newspaper articles.
  This is not the actions of a true democracy--it is reflective of how 
a totalitarian state would behave.
  And, this is not the Turkey we--the United States of America--have 
aligned our country with.
  Amnesty International has called for a complete repeal of this 
punitive legislation.
  The European Commission has repeatedly asked for its repeal.
  One year ago, Members of Congress, their staffers, and members of 
several communities came together to watch ``Screamers''--a film about 
genocide in the last century featuring amongst others, Hrant Dink. 
Here, in the halls of Congress, we saw watched as Hrant Dink discussed 
the problems of Article 301.
  Just two days after the film's premier, Hrant Dink was shot dead. A 
man who only wanted to speak the truth about historical fact. A man who 
wanted every citizen to be equal. A man we should applaud here in 
America for his courage and dedication to democracy.
  I hope my colleagues will join me in honoring the memory of Hrant 
Dink and continuing to urge the repeal of Article 301.

                          ____________________