Rakel Dink Will Be Special Guest at AIWA Reception on Nov. 14

WATERTOWN, Mass.—Rakel Dink, wife of Hrant Dink, the Armenian journalist shot on the streets of Istanbul in January 2007, will be the special guest at a reception hosted by the Armenian International Women’s Association (AIWA) at the Armenian Cultural Foundation (ACF) on Friday evening, Nov. 14, in Arlington, Mass.

Mrs. Dink is widely admired for the courage and dignity she has exhibited in the years since her husband was assassinated by a Turkish nationalist in broad daylight in front of his ofﬁce at Agos, the newspaper he had founded and edited since 1996. His funeral brought out an unprecedented number of Armenian and Turkish mourners to the streets of Istanbul.

Since that time she has dedicated her life to continuing the humanitarian principles espoused by her late husband.

Rakel Dink will be in the Boston area to make introductory remarks at the Hrant Dink Memorial Peace and Justice Lecture on Nov. 13 at the Yenching Auditorium, Harvard University.

At AIWA’s 5th International Conference in Buenos Aires in 2008, Mrs. Dink was presented with a special Humanitarian Award, in recognition of her eﬀorts to advance justice and human rights in the world. She was also the special guest at a reception sponsored by AIWA in Boston in early 2009.

A native of Silopi, a small town in Turkey near the Iraqi border, Rakel Dink was one of 13 children. Her mother died when she was 8, and the following year she was sent to school in the Turkish capital of Istanbul. During the summers, she attended a camp in Tuzla, a suburb of Istanbul, where she met her husband. Following their marriage in 1976, the newlyweds took over the administration of the camp and the care of countless Armenian children.

After the camp was closed, in 1983, Mrs. Dink devoted herself to the care of the couple’s three children. She now has also several grandchildren.

“An Evening With Rakel Dink” on Nov. 14 is open to the public free of charge and will take place at the Armenian Cultural Foundation in Arlington, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Reservations are encouraged by contacting AIWA at 617-926-0171 or aiwainc@aol.com.