List of Turkish diplomats assassinated by Armenian militant organisations

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Ahmet Benler's Volkswagen

This is a list of Turkish diplomats and other officials assassinated by Armenian militant organisations. The Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) and Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide (JCAG) were Armenian nationalist militant groups[1] that targeted Turkish diplomats and officials in Europe, the Middle East, and North America in a series of bombings, shootings, and other attacks.[2] The group aimed to draw international attention to the Armenian genocide and to pressure Turkey to acknowledge the killings as a genocide.[3] The attacks resulted in the deaths of dozens of people, including Turkish diplomats, embassy staff, and bystanders, and injured many more.[4] The group's actions were widely condemned by the international community including the Reagan administration that labelled the assassinations as terrorism.[5][6][7] In the following years, the international community's response led to a wave of arrests and extraditions of ASALA members.[8][9] The ASALA and JCAG attacks and the Armenian genocide remain highly sensitive and controversial topics in Turkey,[10] and discussions of the events are often met with strong emotions and heated political debates.[11] Despite this, the attacks serve as a reminder of the ongoing tensions and historical wounds that continue to affect Armenian-Turkish relations to this day.[12]

List of ambassadors

Ambassador Status Diplomatic mission Assassination date Ref.
İsmail Erez Fully accredited Paris, France 24 October 1975 [13][14][15]
Daniş Tunalıgil Fully accredited Vienna, Austria 27 October 1975 [16]
Taha Carım Fully accredited Vatican City 9 June 1977 [17]
Beşir Balcıoğlu Not active Madrid, Spain 2 June 1978 [18]
Galip Balkar Fully accredited Belgrade, Serbia 9 March 1983 [19]

List of high-ranking diplomats

Diplomat Title Diplomatic mission Assassination date Ref.
Mehmet Baydar
Consul general
Santa Barbara, California 27 January 1973 [8]
Bahadır Demir
Consul
Oktar Cirit
First secretary
Beirut, Lebanon 16 February 1976 [20][21]
Şarık Arıyak
Consul general
Sydney, Australia 17 December 1980 [22][23][24]
Kemal Arıkan Consul general Los Angeles, California 28 January 1982
Orhan Gündüz
Honorary consul general Los Angeles, California 4 May 1982

List of security officials

Individual Military rank Title Diplomatic mission Assassination date Ref.
Talip Yener N/A Driver Paris, France 24 October 1975 [25]
Engin Sever N/A Security attaché Sydney, Australia 17 December 1980 [22][23][24]
Cemal Özen N/A Security attaché Paris, France 24 September 1981
Atilla Altıkat Air Force Colonel Military attaché Ottawa, Canada 27 August 1982 [26]

List of general staff

Diplomat Title Diplomatic mission Assassination date Ref.
Yılmaz Çolpan Tourism counsellor Paris, France 22 December 1979 [27]
Galip Özmen Administrative attaché Athens, Greece 31 July 1980 [28][29][30]
Reşat Moralı Labour attaché Paris, France 4 March 1981
Tecelli Arı Religion officer Paris, France
Mehmet Savaş Yergüç Secretary Geneva, Switzerland 9 June 1981
Erkut Akbay Administrative attaché Lisbon, Portugal 7 June 1982 [31]
Bora Süelkan Administrative attaché Burgas, Bulgaria 9 September 1982
Dursun Aksoy Administrative attaché Brussels, Belgium 14 July 1983 [32][33][34]
Erdoğan Özen Labour attaché Vienna, Austria 20 June 1984
Evner Ergun United Nations officer Vienna, Austria 19 November 1984

List of family members

Individual Relation Diplomatic mission Assassination date Ref.
Necla Kuneralp Spouse of incumbent ambassador Madrid, Spain 2 June 1978 [18]
Ahmet Benler
Son of incumbent ambassador The Hague, Netherlands 12 October 1979 [35]
Neslihan Özmen
Daughter of incumbent administrative attaché Athens, Greece 31 July 1980 [28][29][30]
Nadide Akbay Spouse of incumbent administrative attaché Lisbon, Portugal 11 January 1983 [36]
Cahide Mıhçıoğlu Spouse of incumbent charge d'affaires Lisbon, Portugal 27 July 1983 [37]
Işık Yönder Spouse of a secretary Tehran, Iran 28 April 1984 [38]

Further reading

See also

References

  1. ^ Francis P. Hyland, Armenian Terrorism: the Past, the Present, the Prospects, Boulder-San Francisco-Oxford: Westview Press, 1991, pp. 61–62;
  2. ^ Gaïdz Minassian, Guerre et terrorisme arméniens, Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 2002, pp. 32–34 and 106–109.
  3. ^ "Diplomat memorial stirs controversy". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 21 September 2012. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  4. ^ "Das Armenier-Problem, Behauptungen – Tatsachen". Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 22 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. ^ Fortier, Donald. "Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Digital Library Collections, Collection: "Fortier, Donald: Files," Folder Title: "Turkish Armenian File: [US Department of State Remarks on the Armenian Genocide]," Box: RAC Box 19" (PDF). Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. pp. 8–10, 42. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  6. ^ United States Department of State. Patterns of Global Terrorism Report: 1989 Archived 2014-02-19 at the Wayback Machine, p 57
  7. , p. 256
  8. ^ a b "Beaver County Times - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  9. .
  10. .
  11. .
  12. OCLC 1044768992.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
    )
  13. ^ "Incident Summary for GTDID: 197510220001". UMD Global Terrorism Database. National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. Archived from the original on 30 October 2018. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  14. ^ "Armenians Web Portal". Archived from the original on 21 May 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  15. ^ "Observer Reporter". 25 October 1975. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
  16. .
  17. ^ "Incident Summary for GTDID: 197706090001". UMD Global Terrorism Database. National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. Archived from the original on 31 October 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  18. ^ a b "Incident Summary for GTDID: 197806020002". UMD Global Terrorism Database. National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. Archived from the original on 31 October 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  19. . August 1989, p. 53
  20. ^ "Turkey remembers diplomat killed in Beirut in 1976 - Turkey News". Hürriyet Daily News. 17 February 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  21. .
  22. ^ a b "Assassination of Turkish Consul-General and his bodyguard - NSW Police Public Site". police.nsw.gov.au. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  23. ^ a b Molloy, Roger Collier, Paul Molloy and Susan (13 August 2020). "From the Archives, 1980: Political murder in a quiet Sydney street". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 September 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ a b Cormack, Lucy (13 August 2020). "'Calculated act of terror:' Police divers find clues in 40-year-old assassination mystery". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  25. ^ Barry Rubin, Barry M. Rubin, Judith Colp Rubin, "Chronologies of modern terrorism Archived 2016-12-28 at the Wayback Machine, M.E. Sharpe, 2008, p. 69
  26. ^ "Monument honoring Turkish diplomat opens in Ottawa". Hürriyet Daily News. 21 September 2012. Archived from the original on 31 October 2018. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  27. ^ "Incident Summary for GTDID: 197912220006". UMD Global Terrorism Database. National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. Archived from the original on 31 October 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  28. ^
    ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  29. ^ a b "Turk killed in Greece The Spokesman Review - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
  30. ^ .
  31. . Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  32. . Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  33. ^ "The Montreal Gazette - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  34. ^ "Sarasota Herald-Tribune - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  35. ^ "Incident Summary for GTDID: 197910120003". UMD Global Terrorism Database. National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. Archived from the original on 31 October 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  36. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  37. ^ "Ermeni terör örgütleri 31 Türk diplomat ve yakınını şehit etti". www.trthaber.com (in Turkish). 22 October 2022. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
  38. ^ "Zonguldaklı ASALA Şehidi". Zonguldak Pusula Son Dakika Haberleri (in Turkish). Retrieved 28 March 2023.