The Question: What was the biggest news story in your country last year [in 2007], and why?

For all the observers who have followed Turkey regularly throughout the last decade, 2007 seemed like a 'two-hour-long season finale'. In January, Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink was shot dead in front of his office, prompting thousands to take the streets in protest. This was only a prelude to the massive secularist rallies of April and May, which were then followed in November by nationalist demonstrations in reaction to deadly terror attacks by the separatist PKK. Although all these crowds had seemingly different reasons to take the streets and different ideological and demographical make-ups, they all shared a common motivation; a strong feeling of insecurity and a desire to raise their voices in a way that would penetrate the cacophony of Turkish politics. That is why, instead of singling out one of these as the most important event of the year, I will try to explain their interrelatedness and the significance of 2007 as a breaking point in modern Turkish history.

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