26 01 2007 - "Hrant killed us, and we killed Hrant back?"

January 25, 2007, /PanArmenian.Net/ "Nothing much has changed, it seems. They were killed both in 1915 and in 2007," Turkish writer and journalist Ahmet Altan says in his "1915-2007" article, which was published in "Gazetem.net" site just the other days. Independent French journalist Jean Eckian retold the PanARMENIAN.Net corespondent Ahmet Altan's article. "They killed us, and we killed them back. What are we going to say about the murder of Hrant then? That "Hrant killed us, and we killed Hrant back?" Now that is not what we say, is it? We say "traitors killed Hrant." We do not see the murderers of Hrant as one of "us." Why is it that "we" are the ones who ninety years ago killed hundreds of thousands of people, without forsaking children, women, elderly and babies, who decimated the Armenians, but we are not the ones who killed Hrant? What is the difference between the two? The difference is that this time we saw the murder, that we have an idea about the intentions of the murderer. This time they did not "tell us" how the murder was committed, we personally witnessed it ourselves. If those who in this country "write" the history of 1915 had also written the murder of Hrant, the children in this country would have said fifty years later that "Hrant had killed us, and we killed Hrant back. The truth would have changed shape in the hands of the liars."

We did not kill Hrant. Most probably some people who have ferreted their way into the state had Hrant killed. Their intention was for the world to react negatively to Turkey, which would have escalated nationalism within the country in response, leading to a break off from Europe. In 1915 as well, "we" did not kill the Armenians. Those poor people were not killed by "the ones ferreted inside the state," but directly by the state itself. A great massacre that was organized by the Unionists in government was actualized. The Armenians who were killed were Ottoman subjects. They were a part of the Ottoman nation. A part of the nation was utterly destroyed by the state. "We" are the nation. The ones who were killed were a part of "us." Since each Turk who lives in this country see themselves not as a "part of the nation" but rather a "part of the state," however, they also own this massacre executed by the state. "They killed us, we killed them," they say. Now that is a lie. The Ottoman State, under the government of the Unionists killed, in an organized manner, with the planning of the intelligence unit entitled Special Organization (Teskilat-? Mahsusa), a "part of us." The murdered Armenians are a part of "us." It is actually our duty to ask them to account for that murdered part of us. "We" ought to face this state and ask them "are you a continuation of the Ottoman state," ask them "why do you own up to the murder committed by a state you destroyed," ask them "why don't you yourself seek accountability for this destruction by the state of a part of its nation and instead leave this task to others. "Because "we" did not ask this, one of "us," Hrant Dink, has now been murdered. On top of it all, he, while still mourning for his ancestors, wanted Turkey not to be trapped solely within the term "genocide," not to have the entire debate forced into a single word; he wanted Turkey to be permitted to become democratized through uniting with the world. Hrant Dink was declared "an enemy of the Turks." He was no one's enemy, he was not someone who could have been a foe. He was a friend. And he was a friend to everyone. Why is it that in this country those who are "for murders and massacres" are accepted as a Turk while "those for friendship, peace, justice and humanity" are regarded as foe. The Turkish populace owns up to the crimes of the old and new "state" because it cannot grasp that it is the "nation." As it cannot grasp that it itself is the nation, it identifies itself with the murderers instead and says "us." My heart could never bear to have the sorrowful deaths of those hundreds of thousands of people, the bloody tragedy that was experienced to be lost within the vortex created by the term "genocide." Yet because we have not been able to move beyond that word, people like Hrant are still being killed. I think that now, in order to prevent new murders, in order to stop this country from being dragged to a dead end, it is up to us to move beyond that word. The Ottoman State killed hundreds of thousands of people solely because they were "Armenians." And today a hidden force kills Hrant for "being an Armenian." What are we going to call it if a person is being killed solely because of their race or their religion? It is up to "us," to this nation to ask for an accounting of those who were killed. Hrant's death hurts you all deeply. If you had witnessed what had happened in 1915, you would have been likewise deeply hurt. And you would not have said "they killed us, we killed them." You would have been ashamed. Just as you wanted Hrant's murderers to be found, you would have wanted the murderers of those Armenians found as well.

With his death, Hrant made us remember that we are a nation, that we should not identify ourselves with the murderers. Then let us do what befits being a nation. Who killed Hrant? Who killed the Armenians in 1915? They do not have to account for their actions to "others," they have to account to "us." For we are the ones who have died. The ones who died are a part of us".
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