Many journalists wrote articles about Dink, describing what he did and who he was. I believe it also very important to address how he continues to impact the Armenian Diaspora, most importantly Armenians living in Istanbul today. My latest visit to Istanbul was this summer and this time I saw an entire new Armenian community in Istanbul and that is largely due to Dink. Immediately after his murder an even deeper fear entered the heart of Armenians in Istanbul yet now I see a new generation of Armenians who on a daily basis fight for their Identity in a way that other Armenians in the Diaspora cannot imagine and this is Dink's legacy. Hrant Dink's dream was and is "a Turkey and a world that is more free, more just, more happy, more hopeful, for everyone, a Turkey and a world, where everyone feels like a human being."
My story about Dink and the Armenian community of Istanbul began in the summer of 2005. There I was walking through Sisli (Shishli) not really understanding where Halaskargzi street began nor where it ended, despite the immense unfamiliarity there was a familiar smiling face greeting my father and I. The year was 2005, Friday
July 15 to be exact. At the time I was twenty-one years old with twenty-one million concerns and questions racing through my mind about Armenians who lived in Turkey, especially Istanbul. Hrant Dink was not quite expecting visitors and he was on his way out with a colleague. They looked as though they were rushing to be somewhere, yet once I called out in Armenian "excuse me Mr. Dink" he stopped immediately and a smile came to his face. Even though my father, Harutyun Movsisyan, had met him before and had mentioned that we might stop by, Dink had no idea who I was. The only contact
between us had been through a few emails that I had sent him about a few of his articles a year prior to our meeting. I introduced myself. At a speed of one hundred words per minute I bombarded him with my experiences in Istanbul, at the end of this bombardment I asked him if he could help me understand the social and political circumstances Armenians dealt with on a daily basis in Istanbul. He turned to his colleague and said a few words in Turkish. I did not understand Turkish at the time, but my father later explained that Dink apologized to his colleague and told him to go ahead and that he would catch up later. Later was the span of two hours. Till this day I do not know what I kept him away from that afternoon, but I will be forever grateful for what he instilled in me.
Needless to say as we walked up the stairs, immediately after our encounter, all that I could think about was how he just stopped what he was doing to talk to some young over talkative over inquisitive girl he didn’t know, of course this was my perspective of myself at the time. Generally, in such a circumstance when I meet someone one could say that I am shy and reserved, yet this time what I was experiencing was not something I could or wanted to stay quite about. In order to comprehend the convoluted situation one has to understand how I got to Turkey. I was ending my last quarter for my Bachelors and had been accepted into a Graduate program for History with an emphasis on Middle East/ Near East History. Based on fact that I had to two languages from the region I decided to get a head start in the summer and enroll in Turkish language classes; there were none in our community only out of state. I figured why go to another state, same thing as another country so I decided to go to Turkey itself, learn and immerse myself in the culture. When I told my ...
For the full story, please download the original letter which was published in 2007.
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