CHAMBER OF ARCHITECTS OF TURKEY PRESS RELEASE
January 22, 2007
TO THE MEMORY OF HRANT DÝNK
We are all in deep sorrow by the cruel murder of our citizen, the prominent and outstanding journalist Hrant Dink. He was born and raised on this soil, lived on this soil but, unfortunately, was shot dead on this very soil. He was a respected, enlightened and invaluable human being, an intellectual. We are all in deep sorrow.
The enlightened people in this country know that a Turkey without Hrant would be incomplete. They know that loosing someone who cared much about our togetherness and wanted to be able to live together more than anyone else, will make us more and more lonely.
The enlightened people in this country feel a deep agony and shame by the situation that Turkey has been turning into a country where different voices and diversity are not tolerated. They know that the unspoken thoughts and ideas mean nothing. They know that sharing, discussing and developing ideas mutually will be invigorating, enlightening and enriching.
The enlightened people in this country know that provoked nationalisms can lead to extremely dangerous adventures. They know that an environment where someone other than ourselves can easily be turned into “other”, will make our country a place that is extremely difficult to live in.
The enlightened people in this country are intended to be frightened. They know that fear, especially in an environment where political assassinations were experienced in recent past, is extremely a natural feeling. And they know that this fear will consume our freedom of choice and decision making, our capability of sensible and rational thinking.
The enlightened people in this country long for a country where death is not celebrated, different thoughts, ideas and diversity are embraced as richness, no one is discriminated by his/her religion, language and ethnic origin. They know that it is not only enough to claim demands on the realization of this longing but also it is essential to show a huge effort.
Dear Colleagues,
As the architects of this country, we are conscious of the fact that our collective cultural legacy is produced by the different communities that lived on this soil. We see this as a unique richness of Anatolia, and we are proud of that. We would like to declare that we will continue to show a great effort to protect, study and develop our collective cultural legacy.
At the 2005 World Congress of Architecture , we had the opportunity to meet our colleagues from Armenia, which, for a long time, a political contact could not be established with. Also with the participation and contributions of Hrant Dink to this meeting, we had a valuable and fruitful exchange. Now, the activities and studies we thought we could realize in collaboration as the architects of Turkey and Armenia turned into a mission as a tribute to Hrant Dink’s memory.
The goal of the collaboration that we together aimed at was defined as initiating a professional and cultural cooperation and strengthening the solidarity between the architects of Turkey and Armenia that would be beneficial for the two countries. As the professional organizations representing the architects of the two countries, who share a common geography, we mutually aimed at realizing professional activities and sharing the professional knowledge.
We lived together on this soil, faced and stood up to too many difficulties together. They were our friends and neighbors, we cried together, we laughed together. We strongly wish that this kind of pain would never be experienced again.
We extend our condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.
We are calling all our colleagues to participate in Hrant Dink’s funeral.
CHAMBER OF ARCHITECTS OF TURKEY
