In Istanbul, along Halâskârgazi Street, the chaotic sound of horns and voices seems to stop in front of the Sebat Palace, former headquarters of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos, founded in 1996. Here, on January 19, 2007, the editor-in-chief Hrant Dink was assassinated. Where today there is a plaque that shows the exact time of the crime, a crowd of people immediately gathered with signs "we are all Dink", "we are all Armenians" demanding justice for the journalist who had dedicated his life to improving relations between Armenians and Turks.
The 23.5 Site as a space for memory and civic laboratory In 2019, thanks to the Hrant Dink Foundation (Hrant Dink Vakfı), the spaces of Agos became the headquarters of the 23.5 Hrank Dink Site of Memory (23.5 Hrant Dink Hafıza Mekânı), an exhibition center and, above all, a laboratory for the construction of collective memory and to foster dialogue between communities through the organization of various activities such as Academy on minority rights, festival on coexistence and the "award ceremony in memory of Hrant Dink" as reported on Foundation’s website.
The enigmatic "23.5" is a reference to an article by Dink published in Agos on April 23, 1996, in which he reflected on the tension between two dates: April 23, a celebration of national sovereignty and Children's Day in Turkey, and April 24, a symbolic date of the tragedy that has cost, according to Armenian sources, the lives of more than a million people; a figure officially disputed by the Turkish authorities who, instead, they speak of massacres that took place in the context of the First World War and contest the genocidal intent. For Dink, who felt he was both Armenian and a Turkish citizen, those two close dates represented the tension between the two identities and could be reconciled halfway, in an intermediate space, that 23.5 which, by the way, also represents the date of his wedding with his beloved Rakel, the night between 23 and 24 April 1977.
The addition of the term place to the name of the center recalls the famous work of the French historian Pierre Nora on lieux de mémoire, physical and symbolic sites that acquire a particular meaning in the processes of social and collective construction of memory. As explained by Nayat Karaköse, Program Coordinator, of the Foundation since 2015 and exceptional guide, to design and create the site he traveled to different countries: "from Cambodia to South Africa, from Argentina to Europe. So I visited over a hundred museums and sites of memory", taking inspiration to create a participatory environment, the result is "a place of dialogue where people meet, get to know each other, talk to each other", a civic laboratory where Dink's values and ideals are transmitted.
Hrant Dink: the journalist-mediator of the dialogue between Armenians and Turks
Entering, in the first room, there is an entire space dedicated to the editor-in-chief of Agos, with photos of the journalist as a young man and a copy of the passport that was issued to him at the age of 48, when he still used the name Firat, to protect friends and family. Agos' early works on the confiscation of minority property are displayed in the display cases, while the videos show significant events such as Dink's participation in the conference on the theme Ottoman Armenians During the Decline of the Empire: Issues of Scientific Responsibility a and Democracy, the first to openly discuss the events of 1915, carried out after considerable controversy and public pressure in September 2005 at Bilgi University in Istanbul. From the first room we move to a corridor covered with "a collage of front pages that testifies to the plurality of the issues addressed" said Karaköse, recalling that with Agos "issues related to the rights of Armenian minorities have begun to become much more visible and to enter the public agenda".
On the screens embedded in the walls, scenes of everyday life in the editorial office are reproduced. According to the accounts of those who had worked with him, Dink "was a welcoming person, a very frank personality, who would never refuse an appointment to colleagues or help. He was an excellent journalist, not only as a columnist but as a journalist in the field. I would say that he is someone who would have run after the news and the search for the truth" Karaköse said. The defense of minority rights, according to the director, was only part of her struggle which aimed to "make Turkey a better place and a more democratic place, where freedom of speech and other freedoms prevail and where people can coexist together". One of the characteristics of the editor-in-chief was that he was a person who sought solutions, even in exposing the problems of the communities. With him, the Agos headquarters was also a meeting place and, above all, it was a place of inspiration for young people.
The exhibition itinerary: a journey through the history of contemporary Turkey
The tour of the site is divided into the different rooms, named according to a theme with a layout with attention to detail, which stimulates the visitor's curiosity and allows you to find answers by consulting the information materials available, One of the first settings is the Toilette choir room, a claustrophobic space that evokes the detention and torture suffered by Dink after the 1980 coup. The interactive room Tirttava, a word invented by Dink to express his inner cry, recalls an episode of discrimination experienced during military service and gives its name to a space with a screen that projects the stories of users who feel they want to leave a testimony. "We wanted to allocate this space to our visitors," Karaköse explained, "Because each of us is going through different violations". In the next room Agos, there is the paper archive of the newspaper, while on the windows there are some announcements of search for family members by users of the newspaper. In the same room, some illustrations and writings attract attention. These are the works of the designers of Agos, created -as an impromptu performance- on the day of the opening of the site on April 23, 2019. We then move on to Dink's studio, where the journalist's books, paintings, works by Armenian artists born in Anatolia are kept. "It's like seeing a piece of his life," said Karaköse, recounting that in that space there is a special workshop called Looking at Armenian culture and history through Hrant Dink's room aimed especially at young people who, by visiting the room, can learn new notions.
“I would like there to be an educational system that also teaches minority artists, people who have contributed to the cultural and social life of Turkey," added the director. Behind the desk, with photos of Dink and his wife, there is a seemingly empty space, illuminated by a blue and red light. It is the Salt and Light room, a space that was originally used as an archive and was set up by the Armenian-French artist Sarkis, with special windows, based on his personal philosophy that "is based on creating treasures from our pains" said Karaköse. Metaphorically, through the application of the Japanese technique of kintsugi, Sarkis has given new life to the cracks in the room. In the center of a wall stands another work, a clock and Dink's face, on the cover of the biography written by Tuba Çandar. Also on the wall are metal figures, such as monstrances, and an 18th-century Armenian prayer scroll, an object "in common use among nomads and Christian travelers," Karaköse said, donated by Sarkis to Rakel Dink in 2015. The use of neon with red and blue lights, Karaköse explained, is a choice inspired by the lights of Kamp Armen, the former orphanage in Tuzla, while the brazier with the candle and the cup of salt in the middle of the room were chosen by Rakel Dink, in reference to an episode quoted in the Bible: which says: “human beings are salt of the earth salt, salt prevents things from being rotten and light is for hope, for the future".
Leaving the suspended atmosphere of the room of Salt and Light, we move on to Civilization of Atlantis room. Thus, we return to the history of the Dinks, the Armenians and the non-Muslim minorities. The images of Armenian children and scenes of life in southeastern Anatolia, on the one hand, and those of life in the summer camp in Tuzla established by Hrant Güzelyan , until the 80s, tell one of the dramas of the Armenian community: families and children who, often, had no idea of their culture and identity. The question that can be read on the signs in the room "who are these children?" represents a fundamental question of those years and prompted Karaköse and the others of the foundation to carry out research on the cultural heritage of non-Muslim minorities, creating an interactive map showing the cultural heritage of Armenians, Greeks, Jews and Assyrians in Turkey.
We then move on to the Dovelike Disquiet Room, which transports us to the darkest period of Dink's history: that of the accusation, the judgment, the condemnation and the tragic epilogue. In the display cases on the black walls are shown the pages of the article published by Agos on the possible Armenian origins of Sabiha Gökçen, the adopted daughter of Atatürk, Turkey's first female pilot. Reported in the Hürriyet newspaper, the article sparked a fuss, culminating in the accusation of Dink for having "denigrated Turkish identity", formulated on the basis of the controversial Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. With the publication of the article, Karaköse explained, Dink became a target, as shown by the attacks in the media and the official documents of the time displayed in the display cases. To complete the exhibition there are copies of his writings on why he was attacked and that text "dovelike disquiet of my heart", published in two parts, on 12 and 19 January 2007, which will become his testament. In the words of the journalist - who compares himself to a dove who lives in the city despite his fears - there is a lucid analysis of the reasons for the attacks against him, the growing concern for his family, the doubts about emigrating, the comfort at the thought of taking time while waiting to submit the case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and, above all, his unshakable faith in people who would never attack doves emerges. "Dink became the subject of hate speech in the media and threats, a distortion of words was made, culminating in his assassination," Karaköse said.
Crossing the corridor, as you leave, there is a video showing Hrant Dink reflecting on life and death and, with a dance step, pronouncing the words are reported, in Turkish, under the screen: "Dying is not such a bad thing. It's nothing. If, until you die, you stand up".
Other documents relating to the investigation and trials following the murder can be found in the Request for Justice room. Ogün Samast, the underage nationalist hitman from Trabzon, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2011, however, due to his status as a minor, his sentence was reduced to 21 years and 6 months and in 2023 he was released "for good behavior". In 2010, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ordered Turkey to pay compensation for failing to protect Dink's life. In 2011 there was a conviction for some Trabzon agents, believed to be in possession of relevant information. The case of Dink's murder was reopened by the Supreme Court, in 2014, to investigate the instigators. As Swiss info reports, in 2021, four people were convicted. According to the article in the Swiss newspaper, "the crime was organized by exploiting the infiltration of the security forces by the network of Fethullah Gulen, accused by Ankara of the failed coup of 2016, in order to destabilize the country". The court case continued in 2025. February 7.
The XIV Istanbul Serious Crimes Court held the final hearing of a trial following the 2021 verdict and ended with life imprisonment for 9 officers for complicity in the murder. An ending that, for many media rights organizations, is incomplete and does not reveal the real instigators of the crime. As for the controversial Article 301 of the Criminal Code, it is still in force. It still exists, they made a slight change in 2008, replacing 'identity' with 'nation) and, later, there was another amendment to the provision stipulates that the initiation of an investigation regarding this offense is subject to the prior authorization of the Minister of Justice. The generality of the content of the article leaves ample room for the interpretation of those who are called to judge, as also shown by the recent case of Tuğçe Yılmaz, of the newspaper Bianet, for an article that reports interviews with young Armenians on the theme of identity. In the documents of the trial, explicit reference is made to the example of Dink's case.
Remembering the past to improve the future
Before leaving, the last glance falls on plaques, part of the exhibition Establishing an embassy by German artists Horst Hoheisel and Andreas Knitz, on the normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey. A theme that, 19 years after the death of the editor-in-chief of Agos, leaves some hope, considering the latest political developments and the ongoing talks between the two countries, which seem to be going in the direction of an opening of the land border, initially for commercial exchanges. The geopolitical framework of the Middle East and, more generally, the global one, however, do not bode well and, before leaving the center of Dink, they spoke with Karaköse about the global framework. "It is very disturbing to see what is happening, especially in Palestine, we are witnessing a genocide and it is happening right before our eyes... We always ask ourselves in Cambodia, in Rwanda, how all this happened in front of everyone's eyes," said the coordinator.
The solution for her is to "do something collectively and promote peace" concluding with a message of hope: "As a civil society, you know, I think hope is our oxygen in a way, we have to follow it because it keeps us awake and keeps us moving and we know that, by involving children, we can trigger change. Not in the short term perhaps, in the long term you plant the seeds and then grow, but we should continue to water all the plants we have grown together". Coming out of 23.5, Istanbul's traffic picks up its pace. On January 19, 2026, Halâskârgazi will be filled again with those who want to remember Hrant Dink and his message of aspiring to freedom, despite fears.
