We all were there
I have been crying on and off these days whenever I see Hrant Dink's soft smile in newspapers. This soft-spoken Armenian-Turkish journalist was shut by a 17-year old last Friday. The killing came as a shock, a dark cloud that sits over our heads and our hearts.
I did not know Hrant Dink. I hadn't read any of his writings. I hadn't even heard his name before. Never mind. The sorrow and the shame nevertheless found their place in my heart. The more I read about him, the more I listen to people what a great man he was, the more I understand the gravity and injustice of his execution.
He was a good man. one of those people you immediately like as soon as you meet with his authenticity, the light in his eyes and a sincere, heartwarming smile. For years, he's been the reconciliating voice of the Armenian minority in Turkey, inviting both Turks and Armenians to tolerance and peace. He's been a fierce defender of peaceful co-existence with respect and dignity. All he said was: we all belong here to this land. What a shame that he was pronounced as a traitor by the state which has turned into an invitation for his cowardly and vile murder.
I am at his funeral. there is a sea of people all around me. I look around me; everyone is here: friends, young, old, men, women, students, grandmas, children, Turks, Armenians, Kurds, other minorities, business people, artists, activists, political groups, NGOs. They are all here. 100,000 people beating as one heart, with one mantra: we are all Hrant Dink, we are all Armenian. I am surprised, I am shocked. I don't know if I am crying with sorrow of his death or for this overwhelming feeling of unity. There are so many of us, so many. We are all here to embrace Hrant Dink and what he stands for: peace and reconciliation of peoples of Anatolia, or Asia Minor, or whatever this unique peninsula has been called by hundreds of civilizations that it hosted ever since the beginning of time. We all belong here together. This is what I feel when I look around and see thousands of sad faces but still with a determination and courage to unite for peace and solidarity. With one heart we walk through Istanbul with sobs, silence, applauds, hope! I have never seen anything like this; I have never seen Istanbul like this; I have never seen my people like this. We do care. Hrant Dink did not die for nothing! This is real. He has become a guiding light into unity.
what if we didn't stop here? what if we really make peace with history and past and acknowledge the pain of Armenian nation? what if we opened our borders and welcomed our brothers and sisters into this land? what if we celebrate our common past and shared culture from now on instead of cursing each other?
I remember my visit to Armenia, how I have been welcomed by my Armenian friends with hospitality and generosity. how my heart swell with joy and warmth, how I was touched by their sadness and longing for a land they have been expelled from.
I believe, after what I saw at the funeral, Hrant Dink shifted our consciousness with his death. One march is not enough. I want more! I want to walk through Turkish-Armenian border into Armenia to visit my friends and hug them one more time.
f i l i z
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Знание крылатых фраз на латыни позволяет блеснуть эрудицией каждому, так что кое-что вы наверняка знаете. Проверим?
impressed