Hrant Dink Foundation is an organization established following the 2007 assassination of Hrant Dink, a prominent Turkish-Armenian journalist, in order to "carry on Hrant’s dreams, Hrant’s struggle, Hrant’s language and Hrant’s heart".[1][2] Among the organization's specific goals are to monitor hate speech in Turkey,[3] to study history from a non-nationalist perspective especially using oral history, build relationships between Turkey, Armenia and Europe,[1] and improve democratization and human rights in Turkey.[1][4]

The organization operates a "Turkey-Armenia Fellowship Scheme" enabling Turkish and Armenian professionals to visit the other country with the aim of improving relations, and also participates in the European Union-funded reconciliation initiative, "Support to the Armenia-Turkey Normalisation Process Programme".[1] In 2010, the organization helped organize an exhibition on "Armenian Architects of Istanbul".[5] In 2012, the Platform "I Demand Hate Crime Legislation" was established, supported by the Hrant Dink Foundation as well as dozens of other civil society organizations in Turkey.[3] In 2017, Hrant Dink's widow, Rakel Dink, accepted the Chirac Foundation's Chirac Prize for Conflict Prevention, which was handed to her by French president Emmanuel Macron.[6] On 23 April 2019, the organization unveiled Hrant Dink’s Site of Memory at their headquarters in Istanbul.[4] In 2020, a suspect was arrested for sending death threats to the organization and Rakel Dink.[2]

The foundation has organized several academic conferences, including the 2015 conference "A Civilization Destroyed: The Wealth of Non-Muslims in the Late Ottoman Period and the Early Republican Era", in cooperation with Boğaziçi University, Istanbul Bilgi University, and Sabancı University.[1] The organization has also promoted research into actions of rescue during the genocide through its History and Memory Research Fund.[7] Another focus for the organization is oral history research, which has involved the publication of a series of books "Sounds of Silence" detailing oral histories of Armenians from various parts of Turkey.[8] The organization also sponsored a historical study into the seizure of Armenian foundations during the republican era.[9] In October 2019, a Turkish court banned the organization's conference titled "Social, Cultural and Economic History of Kayseri and the Region". No reason was given.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Eygören, Esra Nur (2015). "Hrant Dink Foundation: Working for dialogue, empathy and peace". Turkish Review. 5 (2): 152–153.
  2. ^ a b "Suspect arrested over death threats to Hrant Dink Foundation". Ahval. 30 May 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b Deveci, Cem; Binbuğa Kınık, Burcu Nur (2019). "Nationalist bias in Turkish official discourse on hate speech: a Rawlsian criticism". Turkish Studies. 20 (1): 26–48. doi:10.1080/14683849.2018.1479961. S2CID 150135128.
  4. ^ a b Nazarian, Eric (9 May 2019). "Sights Unseen: Hrant Dink's Site of Memory". The Armenian Weekly. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  5. ^ "'Armenian Architects of Istanbul' exhibition on display online". Public Radio of Armenia. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  6. ^ "Hrant Dink Foundation Awarded Chirac Prize for Conflict Prevention". CIVILNET (in Armenian). 25 November 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  7. ^ Daglioglu, Emre Can (2015). "A door from the past to the future". Turkish Review. 5 (5): 452–454.
  8. ^ Elmas, Esra (2015). "Toward the 100th anniversary of 1915". Turkish Review. 5 (2): 106–110.
  9. ^ Seferian, Nareg (2015). "The shifting focus of the Armenian Cause". Turkish Review. 5 (2): 98–104.
  10. ^ "Turkish Authorities Ban Hrant Dink Foundation Conference". Asbarez.com. 18 October 2019. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
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