PRESS STATEMENT ON January 17, 2012

The court’s ruling shows that the established tradition, the state tradition of political murders and the enmity towards its citizens, is still in place.The mould is not broken. They did not let it happen.

The ones who are highly disturbed to hear and see the state being called a murderer, bomber of its citizens, destroyer, assasin, mass-murderer, arsonist have done nothing to clear state of these names. They never used the opportunity they had.

Hrant Dink murder case provided them a unique opportunity to come to terms with the tradition that created the bloody and painful history, to purify, transform; thus to say “never again” and step up for democratization. But they did not use this opportunity.

It seems that today’s power, which was the marginalized and the state’s target of yesterday, has allied with the tradition that marginalized them.

They should be aware of the fact that this alliance is temporary. As the history clearly shows, this tradition that you think you have agreed with shall demolish the temporary allies when the conditions change and will move on.

Today, through this court ruling, the first phase of the proceedings which tried the trigger men was closed; but this case is not closed yet. What is finalized here is only the case-file, but not the case itself.

Throughout this case, where only the trigger men are being tried, a light has been shone to the “darkness that turns babies into murderers” and the actual perpetrator and perpetrators who were trying to hide in the shadows were revealed fully under this light. That is why this case is just beginning.

We have many paths to follow, many fields to use and we are determined to exhaust all. Until we ensure that the darkness has been addressed, the perpetrators are prosecuted and until we declare that this case is closed…