Journalist Abdi İpekçi Killed 40 Years Ago Today
* Photograph: Emin İleri / Anadolu Agency
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Journalist Abdi İpekçi, who was the Editor-in-Chief and lead editor of the Milliyet newspaper at the time, lost his life in an armed attack on February 1, 1979. İpekçi has been commemorated in a ceremony held at his grave in Zincirlikuyu, İstanbul in the 40th year of his death.
The commemorative ceremony, where Nükhet İpekçi, the daughter of the journalist, and Turkish Journalists' Association (TGC) Chair Tuncay Olcayto held a speech, was also attended by Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Diyarbakır MP Garo Paylan, Journalists Union of Turkey (TGS) Chair Gökhan Durmuş, Press Council of Turkey Secretary General Mustafa Eşmen, Republican People's Party (CHP) İstanbul Provincial Chair Canan Kaftancıoğlu and Editor-in-Chief of Milliyet newspaper Mete Belovacıklı.
İpekçi: More journalists fall victim to armed attacks
In her speech at the ceremony, Nükhet İpekçi, the daughter of the deceased journalist, said, "The sorrows that we have lived aside, the number of journalists who fall victim to armed attacks has increased in the past 40 years" and made the following statements on the ensuing judicial processes:
"As for the audiences of hearing rooms, they have always been small in number. It was also the case 40 years ago. It is still the case today. The last hearing of the case on Hrant Dink murder was also followed by a small number of people, which was quite surprising.
"If only retroactive lawsuits could be filed, if only the obstacle of prescription could be overcome and, of course, if only there were files that could be followed... Because, as you know, case files of some of us were somehow disappeared in courthouses. Some of us do not even have a grave, let alone a case file... Even the carnations cannot stand it any longer.
"Now, at his grave, we are once again questioning a 40-year unlawfulness. We are expressing our need for the truth. We demand that this truth be put on official records."
Olcayto: Unidentified murders should be solved
Turkish Journalists' Association (TGC) Chair Tuncay Olcayto also said,
"Abdi İpekçi was a journalist who had been full of love for humanity all through his life. The dark forces who instigated his murder cannot still be brought into light in the past 40 years.
"As the Turkish Journalists' Association, we demand that the case files regarding murdered journalists be taken down from the dusty shelves and a Parliamentary Commission be founded to investigate the unidentified murder of journalists. Because if these murders are not solved, the attacks against journalists will continue." (HA/SD)