On the day Hrant Dink was murdered, we thought we had lost not only a human being, but also the conscience of this land. The silence on the streets that day was actually an expression of deep shame and great mourning. Because Hrant Dink was a person who walked not with hate but with words, who spoke not with fear but with hope.
His pen was not meant to hurt anyone, but to bring together people who did not understand each other. “We can live together in this country” was not a dream for him, but a moral responsibility. That is why he was targeted. But he could not be silenced.
After Hrant Dink, a threshold was crossed for Armenians living in Turkey. Feelings that had been suppressed for years, sentences that had been spoken in whispers, began to be spoken more openly. Fear may not have disappeared completely, but courage has increased. His death, ironically, was instrumental in many people finding their own voices.
At the point we have reached today, we see that things that were considered impossible for years can now be talked about. The re-established contacts between Turkey and Armenia, the talk of opening borders, the people coming closer to each other... An Armenian President coming to Turkey to congratulate the President after the elections, a scene that would have been unimaginable in the past. These steps may be small, but their meaning is huge.
Hrant Dink knew that peace would not come in a day. But he believed that every word, every contact, every brave step would leave a mark. Today, those traces are still here. The future he dreamed of, though incomplete and fragile, continues to live on.
Remembering Hrant Dink is not just remembering a death. To remember him is to choose not to be silent, not to give in to fear and to stubbornly defend peace. Because some people continue to lead the way even after their death. Hrant Dink is one of them.
“Hrant Dink paid the price of peace in this land with his life, but he left behind a conscience that cannot be silenced.”