News / World
Thousands Attend Funeral for Slain Armenian Journalist Hrant Dink
Shutting down the city of Istanbul, more than 100,000 mourners’ filled streets and bridges in solidarity to show their support and say goodbye to an ethnic Armenian journalist who was gunned down outside his office on Friday.
As an outspoken journalist, Hrant Dink, 52, had angered many Turkish nationalist for comments he made concerning the mass killings of Armenians in the early 20th century. Dink had stated that the killings, which took place during the fall of the Ottoman Empire, amounted to genocide. That accusation enraged several who insisted that several Turks had died as well.
For many Dink represented a bridge between Armenians and Turks. He was seen as a man dedicated to bringing the two sides together and trying to establish a sense of reconciliation.
In his death, Dink brought together the two sides that he had tried so hard to unite while alive. Armenian Patriarch Mesrob II delivered his eulogy stating “It is mystical that his funeral turned into an occasion where Armenian and Turkish officials gathered together.”
