"Agos". The white pigeon of the colorless Bosphorus. Newmag presents French bestseller about Hrant Dink (book trailer)
Valerie Manteau's “Agos” is the first book that Newmag published in 2021. Book critics called it an exceptionally remarkable work. The novel, originally published in French, won the famous French "Renaudot" award and became a French bestseller. This is an
The Armenian edition of "Agos" was published with the support of the French Institute and the French Embassy's Publications Support Program. The presentation of the book took place on January 19, the day of Dink's assassination.
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. "I knew that Turkey was not a long silent river, but I wanted to discover the history of democratization in the 2000s, a rather peaceful year. There I hoped to get acquainted with the minorities: Armenians or Kurds."
When being asked why she chose Hrant Dink for her book, Manteau just like a typical Frenchwoman says that Hrant Dink was the most realistic ideal, the most charismatic, who longed for peace.
While the city is slowly decaying amidst its contradictions and the violence of the regime, some are still fighting for their freedom. As she wanders around, this woman discovers the story of Hrant Dink, an Armenian journalist murdered in Turkey because of his aspiration for peace.
She tried to find an explanation for the political and social problems and wanted to understand the religious contexts in the case of Dink's assassination. In her book Valerie writes: "It will be much more fruitful if religious differences coexisttogether, rather than side by side. If only we can read their differences accurately, we will understand that they feed each other and don’t destroy. Hrant was a Christian. If we assume that hatred is fear, and fear in turn is the result of not knowing others, then education alone is enough for us to live happily together, to prosper in peace and harmony, forever and ever, amen.”
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