" THE ARMENIAN ISSUE - THE GREATEST OF ALL TABOOS IN TURKEY "

Below we reprint an article written by Hrant Dink in 2005. We do so in the hope that readers will take the time to better acquaint themselves with the actual views and internal musings of the man himself through his own words. The article is entitled...

The Water Finds It's Crack: An Armenian in Turkey

The interest of foreign journalists, politicians and intellectuals in Turkey is more intense than ever. Their opening inquiries are clear and strong: “Where is Turkey going? Will nationalism increase? If it does, to what kind of a regime can Turkey slide?”

Then comes a special question, the one that people like me – a Turkish citizen and an Armenian – can always expect: “Are you minorities afraid of the way things are going?”

It is striking that those looking at Turkey from the outside are much more impatient, eager for quick answers and solutions, than those on the inside. To what degree is this impatience realistic? After all, throughout the period of the modern republic since 1923, Turkey is a country where changes have been dictated from top to bottom and thus one where inner dynamics from bottom to top are not easily activated. Turkish society is far more used to accepting change, allowing it to happen, than to initiating it.

To continue reading see OPEN DEMOCRACY