Why did you kill Hrant?

What kind of mentality has emerged like this; it is as if this country has gone on an Armenian hunt.

This is unacceptable. 

Armenians have made a great contribution to the foundation of the culture and art that has developed in these lands.

For example, the newspaper first came to the Ottoman Empire through Armenians. The first newspaper was published in 1567 by Apkar of Sivas. This was approximately 160 years before the establishment of the first Turkish printing house. Apkar of Sivas went to Venice, Italy, learned printing there, and in 1567 brought the tools and parts he had learned about and acquired to Istanbul. 

But he was told, “It is forbidden, my friend.” The newspaper was an “infidel invention” for Muslims.

Apkar of Sivas was immediately arrested, and his typesetting and printing tools were confiscated, but he was later released as he was not found guilty.  

Apkar was an Armenian.

Master Apkar, of course, did not stop; immediately after being released, he established his printing house in 1567 at the Surp Nikogos Church in Kumkapı, Istanbul. And he began his publishing life.

The books printed were in Armenian.

But that was fine. The first seed of journalism had been sown in these lands.

Progress, of course, did not come easily.

In fact, the first printing house was brought to the Ottoman Empire in 1492-94 by the Jewish Rabbi Gerson, which was approximately 234 years before the establishment of the first Turkish printing house.

Because the first Turkish printing house in the Ottoman Empire was established on December 14-16, 1727.

The founder was İbrahim Müteferrika, and he was Hungarian.

He was a Christian Calvinist and had been trained to become a Protestant pastor. Later, due to the conditions he lived in, he had to become a Muslim. 

Anyway,

The letters of the first Turkish printing house were decorated by the state by an Armenian named Zınbık.

As soon as Selim III, who wanted to carry out administrative and military reforms in the country, took the throne in 1790, he had the military works written by Marquis Sebastien Vauban translated into Turkish so that the Ottoman Army could be well-trained. He had the illustrations in these works prepared by two masters named Kapril and Stephan.

Masters Kapril and Stephan were Armenian.

Exactly 110 years after Apkar of Sivas, in 1677, a journalist named Eremya Çelebi Kömürciyan appeared on the scene. 

He made the first publications in the fields of history and geography in the Ottoman press and publishing life.

He was Armenian.

There was the famous Takvim-i Vekayi.

He even published a newspaper called Lirakir. The newspaper was in Armenian. The director of the newspaper was Kevork Krikoryan. He was Armenian.

The Press Directorate was established in the Ottoman Empire in 1862. The first Press Director was Ohannes Pasha of Sakız. And he was Armenian. 

The first publisher of the Asır printing house, which had the largest library and publishing house in the Ottoman Empire, was Kirkor Faik, and he was Armenian.

The Vakit newspaper, which you read these days, was also founded by an Armenian. The name of its founder was Filip Efendi.

The founder of the Sabah newspaper was the Greek Papadapulos, and this newspaper later passed to Mihran Efendi of Kayseri in 1882.

Mihran Efendi was Armenian.

And Diran Kelekyan served as editor-in-chief at this newspaper for a long time. Diran Kelekyan even taught at the Ottoman General Staff War Academy. He gave lectures to Turkish officers.

He was also Armenian.

There was once a bookstore called “Esad Efendi Library” on Babıali Slope. And his partner was Basiretçi Ali Efendi. All bookstores other than the Esad Efendi library were Armenian.

Kapsar, Ohannes, Kirkor, Aleksan, and Arakel from Kayseri were all Armenian. Arakel Efendi was also translating the works of Ahmet Rasim and Samipaşazade Sezai, who were among the first Ottoman publishers.

There was also a coffeehouse where the bookstores were located on Babıali Street. That coffeehouse was like a cultural center. This was the coffeehouse of Sucu Kosti. He would bring together young people who wanted to write and publish but lacked the means and courage, with well-known writers there.

He would introduce them.

Sucu Kosti was Armenian.

The name of the first local newspaper published in Anatolia was Envar-ı Şarkiyye. It was established in 1867 and the newspaper was also published in Armenian letters.

Not only serious publications, but Güllü Agop wrote the humor publications in the Ottoman Empire.

Güllü Agop’s surname was Vartovyan and he was Armenian. 

Güllü Agop also founded the Ottoman Theater. He later had to become a Muslim and took the name “Mehmet Yakup”.

Hey, even the first producer of the Güllüoğlu baklavas and desserts that you eat with pleasure belonged to an Armenian family.

The Manti eaten by the people of Kayseri and the pastrami they could not get enough of were an Armenian culture.

Armenians had added so much to these lands. They were the culture and taste of these lands. With this being the case, a vagabond appeared and, in the name of a blind nationalism—though it cannot be called nationalism—murdered journalist and writer Hrant Dink, the Editor-in-Chief of Agos Newspaper, by shooting him in the head on January 19, 2007.

I ask you, my friend, why did you kill Hrant?

Just because he was an Armenian journalist, is that it?

Hey, Armenians founded journalism in these lands.

Is that something that should happen?

Fine, you killed Hrant, you erased him from history.

Well then, how will you erase the Armenians since Apkar of Sivas in the history of journalism?