Terrorist organizations ASALA (Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of
Armenia), JCAG (Armenian Justice Commandos) and ARA (Armenian Revolutionary
Army) committed attacks targeting our diplomats and their families between
the years 1973 and 1986. It started in 1973 with the attack of an Armenian
terrorist, who martyred Consul General Mehmet Baydar and Consul Bahadır
Demir in Los Angeles. Then, Ambassador to Austria Dâniş Tunalıgil was
martyred on 22 October 1975. After that, seventy-seven people including
fifty-eight Turkish citizens -thirty-one of them were diplomats and their
families- lost their lives and a great number of others were injured in the
attacks perpetrated by Armenian terrorist organizations.
Besides the Armenian terrorist organizations’ attacks, Çetin Görgü, Press
Attaché at our Embassy in Athens, and Ömer Haluk Sipahioğlu, Counsellor at
our above-mentioned Embassy, were martyred in the attack of the terrorist
organization “17 November”, in 1991 and 1994. In addition; Çağlar Yücel,
Administrative Attaché at our Embassy in Baghdad was martyred in 1993;
Security Attachés Nihat Akbaş, Bilal Ürgen, Adem Çiçek, Bülent Kıranşal and
Süleyman Karahasanoğlu were martyred in 2004; Sinan Yılmaz, Police Officer
at our Embassy in Mogadishu was martyred in 2013; and Osman Köse, member of
our Consulate General in Erbil was martyred in 2019 due to attacks of
terrorist organizations.
On the occasion of 18 March Martyrs’ Day, we commemorate each year, through
ceremonies held in our country and at our foreign missions, our diplomats
who became martyrs in various countries while they were representing our
flag and our nation. In this framework, a commemoration ceremony was held
on Wednesday, 18 March 2020, at 10:30 at the Martyrs’ Cemetery of the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ankara. Moreover, our local authorities and
Representation Office in Izmir held a ceremony at the Monument for Martyred
Turkish Diplomats in Karşıyaka, Izmir. Also, a wreath was placed at the
Monument for Martyred Turkish Diplomats in Fethiye.
It is also important to honour the sacred memories of our martyrs by
erecting or placing monuments and plaques in places where they were
martyred in other countries. In this framework, our works for erecting or
placing monuments/plaques in the memory of our martyrs in Sydney, Ottawa,
The Hague, Lisbon, Vienna, Burgas and Belgrade have been completed. Our
works in this respect continue, for other cities abroad where we had
martyrs.
In the 39th anniversary of martyrdom of Consul General Şarık
Arıyak and Attaché Engin Sever in Sydney, Australian authorities declared
that the case was reopened to find the perpetrators of the terrorist attack
claimed by JCAG and a reward of a million Australian Dollars was placed for
the culprits to be caught. At a time when the source and culprits of terror
-which has targeted sons and daughters of our nation- are trying to glorify
terrorist acts and create hostility out of hatred, we think that this step
taken by Australian authorities to bring those responsible to justice is
important, and hope that it will be an example for other countries.
We once more bow with respect and gratitude before the sacred memories of
all our martyrs. May Allah bless their souls.