Armenian-Turkish journalist fell victim to Turkish state's indifference - four years without Dink

Today marks the fourth anniversary of the tragic death of Hrant Dink, the editor-in-chief of the Armenian-Turkish weekly Agos.

On January 19, 2007, Dink was shot to death outside his office by a 17-year old Turkish nationalist, Ogun Salmast.

Armenian communities in different parts of the world will hold today commemoration events to pay respect to the slain Armenian intellectual.

Turkey will once again host public events, with people chanting slogans "We all are Hrant Dink".

Four years have passed since Dink's tragic death. Yet, the society knows as much about his murder as it did in 2007. The court trials to convict the chief culprits - Ogun Salmast, Yasin Hayal and Erhan Tuncel – are rescheduled every time without recording a serious progress in disclosing the circumstances of the case.

Some authors have recently published books in an attempt to shed light on the details of the incident.

"Four years after Dink's death, the society came to realize it could have protected Hrant and prevented his assassination if it wanted to. But all kinds of concerns were ignored just because he was an Armenian … The state persists in taking care of its citizen, which is regrettable," says CNN Turk Editor-in-Chief Mehmed Ali Birand in a publication devoted to the fourth anniversary of Dink's death.

"Those responsible for such kind of crime considered the biggest disgrace for the Turkish state are still in freedom. The society already knows what happened as a matter of fact…" the Turkish analyst says, adding that the Turkish society, as well as the police and intelligence services had known previously about Dink's murder but consciously or negligently failed to take any measures to prevent the tragedy.

"Hrant Dink was killed because of the Turkish state's indifference which still continues. The country's Interior Ministry takes no positive action to fully disclose the matter for fear of harming the state. But the Turkish society must be free from such dark spot of history. The real culprits must be held accountable," Birand says in conclusion.