On the anniversary of Hrant Dink's death, Newmag and French Embassy together presented the “Agos” novel (video in Armenian)
On January 19, 2007, Armenian intellectual Hrant Dink was shot in front of the “Agos” editorial office in Shishli, Turkey. The murderer was 17-year-old Ogun Samasti, who shot him and shouted "gyavur", which was a reason to assume that the murder was commi
Even 14 years later, journalists and human rights activists are arrested and killed in Turkey. Exactly one year ago, Newmag promised to translate and publish "Agos" by French writer Valerie Monteau. A year later, on the day of Dink’s assassination, the book about modern Turkish society, was published in Armenian. Writer Valerie Manteau is in Armenia to attend the book presentation. According to her, the messages of her book continue to be relevant. "In my book, the young woman wanders in Dink's footsteps. The messages in the book, which were at the core of Dink's work, are regularly voiced in France and Turkey. The book has that purpose. ”
Valerie Manteau is a former employee to the satirical magazine “Charile Hebdo”. She lives in Marseilles, and also in Istanbul. When there were attacks on "Charlie Hebdo" weekly in France in 2015, she decided to go to Istanbul, find peace there, look for a new idea.
Samvel Gasparyan who translated the book into Armenian admits that he initially decided to refuse to translate because it seemed too difficult to him. However, he was so interested in the topic that he changed the mind and began working. "The style of the novel is very beautiful, interesting. I am sure that the Armenian readers will like the book, especially in terms of genre nuances, it is very different from modern novels".
Artak Aleksanyan, CEO of Newmag Publishing House thinks that the book is more relevant to read after the Artsakh war, when Turkey once again showed that after killing Dink, it kills his dream. "Hrant Dink had a great dream - friendship of people, Armenian-Turkish reconciliation. But that was Dink's dream, not Erdogan's. 14 years after Dink was assassinated, Turkey put an end to his naive dream."
This is Newmag's first public presentation during the epidemic. This is the first event also for the French Embassy, Ambassador Jonathan Lacotte notes in his speech. "It was a difficult year for Armenia. Regardless, we are happy to resume our cultural events. Newmag is one of the main publishers of French literature in Armenia. We want to resume publishing French literature in Armenia with the Armenian translation of Agos”
And the first of those events is this joint initiative of Newmag and the embassy - the Armenian publication of “Agos” by French writer Valerie Monteau.
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