Indeed, we are all Ogün Samasts -- as well as Yasin Hayals and Erhan Tuncels and all the unknown accomplices of the shameful assassination of Hrant Dink. Yes, we are.

Only a curious skimming of our newspaper headlines since Jan. 19, when Hrant was murdered, confirm that some part of this country’s security bureaucracy feels that his murder was justified. The scandal surrounding the filming and photographing of Ogün Samast in the gendarmerie station and the unfolding skirmishes between the police and the gendarmerie seem to have missed the primary point that should be addressed. We are trying to identify who murdered Dink, not who leaked the footage to whom and what is behind it. Every day new information is emerging from the investigation into the Dink murder. This case is likely to change the career paths of some of our bureaucrats, be they governors or police chiefs.

It is most depressing that some members of the police and the gendarmerie pride themselves on having been photographed with the prime suspect in the Dink murder. I am sure dozens of explanations will surface, but they simply will not fly with anyone. The fact remains that these irresponsible officials disgraced our flag, the founder of the Turkish Republic and the institutions they represent. What is more troubling is that they have seriously undermined public trust in the police and the gendarmerie. Also, it is very troubling to see that while the four police officers in question have been removed from their positions and will probably be charged, the four gendarmerie officials were simply assigned to other locations. Why have they not been held accountable and simply assigned to other cities? Why will they not be charged for disgracing our flag or inciting hatred?

Prime Minister Erdoðan astutely squared the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) with his comments on Saturday. In a most responsible and courageous manner, the prime minister underlined that the “either you love this country or you leave it” attitude exhibited by the MHP is racist, exclusionary if not fascist. It is time that these so-called nationalists are confronted publicly. For too long, this sort of unacceptable political discourse has been passing without a challenge.

I believe that the Dink murder and its aftermath has redrawn the lines of our domestic politics in a most curious manner. The principled stances of Prime Minister Erdoðan and Foreign Minister Gül on the Dink murder once again confirmed that Turkey’s Muslim democrats, the AK Party, are the only potent force in this country that can challenge the nationalist-conservative establishment. Turkey’s Muslim democrats remain the only organized, ideologically identifiable and motivated political force in this country that can shepherd change in this country. The key issue here is that this is also recognized by other progressive forces in this country. It is in the interest of our democracy that Turkey’s liberals and true leftists, who care about democratic change and not the status quo, recognize this strategic fact and work towards an alignment rather than being bogged down along the secular-Islamist divide. Needless to say, a smart adjustment to some of the AK Party’s less popular policies would even further ease this convergence.

This country and particularly its political elite have been seriously shaken by the murder of Dink. These are difficult times for all of us. We need to find the courage to separate ourselves from those who applaud the murder of intellectuals. We need to support the Turkish media’s persistent quest to unearth the truth behind the murder. We need to stand up and shout loudly that we are not all Ogün Samasts but are aspiring for a free, open and transparent Turkey where all of us, regardless of our ethnic, religious or sectarian affiliations, can prosper.