In 1999 the Agos newspaper, which had been founded by Hrant Dink and a group of friends in 1996, moved its offices to the Sebat Building. The paper’s mission was to draw attention to and raise awareness about the problems of Armenians and other minorities in Turkey, to promote minority cultures and to contribute to Turkey’s democratization.
On 19 January 2007, Hrant Dink was assassinated in front of the Sebat Building. Hundreds of thousands attended his funeral ceremony, earning the Agos office and the Sebat Building a place in collective memory and public conscience. Every year on January 19, thousands of people continue to gather in front of the Sebat Building to commemorate Hrant Dink and to demand justice. The Hrant Dink Foundation was established in 2007 with the aim of continuing Hrant Dink’s legacy and dreams. The Foundation started to operate from the Sebat Building together with the Agos newspaper.
In 2015, the Agos newspaper and Hrant Dink Foundation moved from the Sebat Building to new premises. Given the symbolic significance of the site and its powerful presence in collective memory, a decision was taken to turn the former office into a site of memory. Establishing the first memory site in Turkey was challenging and in order to overcome this challenge we decided to conduct a preparatory phase that consisted of study visits to different memory sites and memorials in four corners of the world, meetings with national and international experts, organizing workshops and panels on different practices of dealing with the past and conducting an inclusive process where we heard the recommendations, expectations and opinions of people from different identities, profiles, backgrounds and age groups.
After five years of preparation the 23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory opened its doors to visitors on 23 April 2019 with content in three languages (Turkish, Armenian and English). The site of memory takes its name from the article “23.5 April”, written by Hrant Dink and published in Agos on April 23, 1996. This date is a pendulum between pain and hope, a pledge between the past and future and an invitation to a paradigm shift. Today 23.5 is reaching beyond borders, with a virtual site that was launched on the third birthday of the 23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory.
Atlantis Civilization room_ Shedding light on Hrant Dink's childhood _KenanOzcan_©HrantDinkFoundation
With its exhibitions and public programs, the site acts as a site of remembrance, conscience, dialogue, reflection, commemoration, truth-seeking, activism and research. While shedding light on Hrant Dink’s life, his achievements, the story of the Agos newspaper, the events that led to his assassination and the aftermath of the assassination the site offers a look at the near history of Turkey in terms of minority rights and the struggle of Armenians. The 23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory gives special importance to address and highlight the universal values embraced and championed by Hrant Dink such as democracy, equality, justice, human rights and freedoms. It also builds a bridge between memory and hope. As Hrant Dink guides the visitors through the site, the visitors bear witness to his life, his work as a rights defender, and his death, while also seeing snapshots of different historical periods in Turkey. The fact that Hrant Dink is the main narrator of the site adds a unique dimension. Visitors are able to listen to the entire content from his own voice and perspective which allows them to hear the facts and stories first hand. What we learned over the course of the preparation stage is that questions occupy a central place in memory sites. Memory sites ask questions and encourage people to probe into things they have accepted as facts or truths which in turn heartens them to look at events from different perspectives. 23.5 features many videos of Hrant Dink and each video starts with a question, it is again Hrant Dink who gives the answers. In this way visitors interact and build a special bond with him. His articles, his words of wisdom accompany visitors throughout the site.
The 23.5 acts as a space for truth-seeking and justice-seeking. Hrant Dink assassination trial still continues and although 26 people were convicted the real perpetrators have never been brought to justice, no effective investigation was conducted. 23.5 is a site which offers a platform allowing visitors to learn about the events that led to Hrant Dink’s assassination, where the visitors explore how he became a target of hate and how the assassination was orchestrated. Each year on January 19 thousands of people gather in front of the memory site to voice their quest for justice in the assassination trial will be an important step toward enlightening other political assassinations and extrajudicial killings in Turkey and contribute to democratization efforts.
The site of memory houses spaces which encourage active engagement of the visitors. The visitors are able to share their opinions, thoughts, demands for justice and democracy by writing on visitor cards which bear the words ‘hope’, ‘justice’, ‘memory’, ‘truth’ and ’23.5’. Stories do matter and stories unite us; personal accounts of lived experiences build bridges between people, foster mutual understanding and empathy. In one of the rooms the visitors are able to record videos of their personal stories of rights violations, discrimination and struggle. Each of these recordings empower somebody else. With their consent, the visitors’ testimonies and stories become part of the 23.5 exhibit.
23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory_Salt and Light_ Installation by Artist Sarkis_Neslihan Koyouncu_©HrantDinkFoundation
Horatious once said ‘Sapere Aude’ which means ‘dare to know’. 23.5 heartens people to be unafraid of the truth. 23.5 offers an opportunity to look into the past and to encourage people to face it so that we can all build a better future, with better stories. As Hrant Dink once said “Those who still defend forgetting today are not only afraid of the past, but also the future. An unforgotten past is the assurance of the future.”
23.5 acts as a site, which talks with people rather than talking to people. Through its public programs, guided tours and events it offers a space for dialogue and discussion. Hrant Dink defended the importance of bringing people together and he often emphasized that ‘Dialogue is the only recipe’. We believe that by bringing people together, providing a platform to share and express their opinions, their dilemmas, the conflicts that they are dealing with and the issues that they are grappling with will contribute to positive change in the long term. With its public and learning programs 23.5 welcomes and brings together visitors from different identities, backgrounds, profiles and age groups. Working with youth, with school groups, receiving their interesting questions, contributing to raising their awareness on human rights and reminding them that they can all become agents of change are among the missions of 23.5. The building where 23.5 is located is named ‘Sebat’ which means perseverance in Turkish. The name of the building is an everyday reminder to all of us as we can only achieve transformation and societal change with perseverance and hope. Despite all the challenges, dark moments and cruelty that we bear witness to, we should remind ourselves that we must never give up on hope. Harnessing pain to power and to hope may be difficult but this is what 23.5 strives to do continuously. Planting seeds matter, but watering them matters more. 23.5 does not just plant seeds, 23.5 plants values such as democracy, justice, equality, peace, co-existence and welcomes visitors from four corners of the world to water and grow them together. With memory, perseverance and hope…