50,000 remember Hrant Dink in Istanbul

“We are all Armenians”. Many of the tens of thousands who flooded Istanbul’s streets on Thursday were carrying this slogan.

Five years to the day Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink was gunned down they are still angry that justice has not been done.

Although three people were jailed this week for his murder, none of the 19 tried were found guilty of belonging to a criminal organisation.

“First of all this verdict disturbed everyone. It has been so long. Even if it’s overturned on appeal I don’t know how it can satisfy people after all this time. But anyway it should be rejected,” said journalist Engin Bas.

“We are going to the appellate court. As well as that, when we have proper conditions we will apply to the European Court of Human Rights,” said the Dink family lawyer, Arzu Becerik.

Dink’s supporters claim requests to follow up evidence they uncovered suggesting state offical and police involvement wereignored, and in some cases important documents destroyed.

Reporting from Istanbul euronews Turkey correspondent, Bora Bayraktar said: “The friends of Hrant together with those who seek justice ended their march on the spot where he was murdered and gave a clear message: They are not giving up their efforts to pursue the case.”

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