!á½p="justify">Today we will be marching for him. Those who love Turkey will be carrying his coffin on their shoulders. However, we still cannot be exonerated. We can neither bring Hrant back nor restore Turkey's reputation.

The young man whose finger pulled the trigger in Hrant's murder has been captured.

However, the real murderer will again go scot-free.

We are the real murderers of Hrant.

We have nourished our murderers in a mindset and against a backdrop shaped by Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). We have handed them the guns.

All those responsible are still among us. What is worse, some of them appear on television broadcasts and go on and on about how sorry they feel.

  And how about those who abide strictly by Article 301, just because it is “written” even while there is still debate over it? How about those who have filed complaint upon complaint against Dink, basing their claims on Article 301?

  How about those public prosecutors who have taken these illogical complaints seriously and have decided to proceed, saying, “I would like to get rid of the responsibility so I will file a suit and let the court decide?”

  And how about the judges who accepted these legal cases, only to interpret Article 301 in the most restricted fashion possible so as to convict Hrant?

  What about them?

  We are all responsible. The list is very long.

  Those who massed at courts, rushed, cursed and even took a punch at people like Dink, chanting, “We want our democratic rights…”

  Those who raid Armenian conferences, ruin exhibitions…

  Please tell me if I am wrong…

  Are we not rough as a society?

  We especially belittle our minorities. We do not consider our citizens of diverse ethnic groups as one of our own. We hate different points of view. We do not like discussions. We are all too ready to employ violence to impose our views. We become rude. We lash out when we are angry.

  Is it not true?

  This is the reason why we have all killed Hrant…

  This is the reason why Article 301 killed Hrant…

  This is the reason why, if we would like to make a change as a society, we need to change Article 301.

  This is the only way we can ask for Hrant Dink's forgiveness.

We would like to see everyone at the funeral today:

  Many of my colleagues have been writing about the issue for days. I agree with them.

  We would like to see Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah Gül, Chief of General Staff Gen. Ya?ar Büyükan?t and, most importantly, our president, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, at the funeral today.

  A citizen was murdered. And he was slain only because he was of Armenian descent. He was shot at because he called for freedom of press.

  Dink is a martyr of democracy.

  We should show the same sensitivity toward Dink's funeral as we do for the fallen in the name of our country. We should embrace Ömer Çelik's proposal and wrap his coffin in a Turkish flag.

  President Sezer should demonstrate his devotion to the law and to justice in this way.

  Prime Minister Erdo?an should not be afraid of losing nationalist votes. He should prove his claims today openly as he is very proud of his courage and repeatedly states his devotion to democracy.

  The rumor has it that his schedule is full. But he could just postpone the closed meeting of Parliament, see Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi to his private jet, and attend the funeral, even if only for two hours.

  We are well aware of Gen. Büyükan?t's sensitivity to the issue. We are sure that he will not simply settle for sending a garland to the funeral. Let's all support Turkey today. Let's show the whole world that the genocide claims are lies. Let's demonstrate that the murderers are not amongst us.