• October 22, 1975,
Vienna,
Austria: Turkish Ambassador to Austria,
Daniş Tunalıgil, was assassinated in his office. • October 24, 1975,
Paris,
France: Turkish Ambassador to France,
İsmail Erez, was assassinated. His car's driver Talip Yener was also killed in the attack. • May 28, 1976,
Zürich,
Switzerland: Two bombs caused extensive damage to the office of Garanti Bank and of Labor Attaché of Turkish embassy. • May 29, 1977,
Istanbul,
Turkey: a double bombing in railroad station and airport killed five persons and wounded 64. • June 9, 1977,
Rome,
Italy: Turkey's
Vatican Ambassador,
Taha Carım, was
assassinated. • June 2, 1978,
Madrid.
Spain: Turkish Ambassador to Spain
Zeki Kuneralp's car was attacked. His wife Necla, retired Turkish Ambassador
Beşir Balcıoğlu, and their driver, Antonio Torres, were killed. Kuneralp was not in the car. Christopher Walker wrote that "as with all terrorism, often murdered shockingly inappropriate people, such as the wife of Zeki Kuneralp, whose family had been instrumental in seeking rapprochement between the different nationalities of post-Ottoman Turkey". • October 12, 1979,
The Hague,
Netherlands:
Ahmet Benler, son of the Turkish Ambassador to the Netherlands
Özdemir Benler was assassinated. Responsibility for the attack was also claimed at the same time by the
Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA). • December 22, 1979, Paris, France: Turkish
attaché for tourism in France,
Yılmaz Çolpan, was assassinated. • January 20, 1980, Madrid, Spain: several bombs exploded at
Madrid Airport, injuring twelve people. • February 6, 1980,
Bern, Switzerland: Turkish Ambassador to
Switzerland Doğan Türkmen was attacked. Türkmen escaped with minor wounds. Max Hraïr Kilndjian was sentenced as an accessory to two years imprisonment by the tribunal of
Aix-en-Provence. • April 17, 1980, Rome, Italy: JCAG gunmen opened fire on the Turkish Ambassador to the Holy See, Vecdi Turel, seriously wounding him, and slightly injuring his bodyguard, Tahsin Guvenc. • October 6, 1980,
United States: Harut Sassounian attempted to kill the Turkish general consul,
Kemal Arikan. Sassounian was sentenced to 6 years of jail; his brother
Hampig "Harry" Sassounian assassinated Kemal Arikan in 1982 and was sentenced to life imprisonment (he was granted parole in 2021). • October 12, 1980,
New York City, United States: A bomb planted under a stolen car parked in front of the Turkish Center in
United Nations Plaza exploded at 4:50 p.m., minutes before hundreds of employees and tourists exit the United Nations building which closes at 5 p.m. The bomb, which has the force of nine sticks of
dynamite, demolished the automobile, hurling the parts of the vehicle in all directions; all that remained of the vehicle is the rear bumper. The flying pieces of metal and glass as well as flames from the blast injured five Americans. The explosion destroyed a vehicle parked across the street, and causes significant damage to the 11-story Turkish Center, and blows out the windows of nearby buildings, including
B'nai B'rith,
Chase Manhattan Bank, the African American Center, a travel agency and numerous apartment complexes. Assistant
New York City Police Department Chief, Milton Schwartz, expressed "It is absolutely lucky that more people weren't injured." U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations,
Donald McHenry, condemned the attacks as "savage and calculated terrorism." New York City Mayor Edward Koch expressed that the incident "demonstrates forcefully that all terrorism, no matter what form it takes, and no matter against whom it is directed, must be condemned and punished." • October 12, 1980,
Los Angeles, United States: the offices of Imperial Travel, a travel agency owned by a
Turkish-American, Ali Ondemir, were partially destroyed by a bomb; a tourist was wounded. • December 17, 1980,
Sydney,
Australia. Two gunmen on a motorcycle shot and killed the Turkish consul-general and his bodyguard. The consul,
Şarık Arıyak, had received a death threat that day, and took it seriously enough to swap cars with his bodyguard. The motorcyclists opened fire on the bodyguard, then realizing they had not hit their intended target, caught up with Mr. Ariyak's fleeing car and fired several shots through the windshield, killing him instantly. No one was apprehended. In their phone call to the newspaper, the assassins said they would continue to attack Turkish diplomats and Turkish institutions. • June 3, 1981,
Orange, California, United States: a bomb exploded in the
Orange County Convention Center in
Anaheim, the scheduled site of a Turkish folk dance and music show, causing extensive damage. Two days before, bomb threats provoked cancellation of another Turkish show in
San Francisco. • November 20, 1981, Los Angeles, United States: a bomb caused extensive damage where the Turkish consulate of Los Angeles at 8730 Wilshire Blvd,
Beverly Hills. Serge Samionian, Secretary of the Los Angeles Chapter of the
Armenian National Committee of America, submitted a letter to
Los Angeles World Affairs Council (LAWAC), stating "2000 Armenians are expected to turn out for the demonstration against the Ambassador" of Turkey and requesting that the Ambassador's speech be cancelled "in the interest of public safety.". In vain. • January 28, 1982, Los Angeles, United States: Turkish consul general Kemal Arıkan was killed in his car as he sat at a stoplight. Four people were taken into custody;
Harry Sassounian, 19-years-old at the time of the killing, was later convicted of
first degree murder. The jury found that Sassounian killed Arikan "because of his nationality", leading to a sentencing of life in prison without possibility of
parole. In 2002, the sentence was changed in life with no possibility of parole during 25 years, but Sassounian's demand of parole were rejected in 2006 and 2010 An accomplice, believed to be Krikor (Koko) Saliba, is still at large. • May 4, 1982: New England's honorary Turkish consul general in Somerville, Massachusetts,
Orhan Gündüz, whose import shop in Cambridge was the target of a previous attack, was shot by a man dressed in a jogger's outfit, as he sat in his car. • June 27, 1982,
Lisbon,
Portugal: administrative attaché
Erkut Akbay was assassinated outside his home on the outskirts of the city as he returned home for lunch. His wife, Nadide Akbay, was shot in the head as she sat beside him, and died after eight months in a
coma on January 11, 1983. • August 27, 1982:
Atilla Altıkat, Turkish
military attaché in
Canada was assassinated in
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. • September 9, 1982,
Burgas,
Bulgaria: Bora Süelkan, attaché to the Turkish consulate was assassinated. • March 9, 1983,
Belgrade,
Yugoslavia: Turkish Ambassador
Galip Balkar died of wounds received when two gunmen shot him in an ambush in central Belgrade. An armed clash between the guerrillas and police ensued and one of the guerillas was wounded. Both guerrillas, who claim to belong to an Armenian paramilitary organization, were eventually apprehended. A Yugoslav passerby was killed during the clash, while a female student and a Yugoslav officer who was trying to capture the assailants were wounded. The Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide claimed credit for the attack. • July 14, 1983,
Belgium: the administrative attaché of Turkish embassy,
Dursun Aksoy, was assassinated in
Brussels • November 23, 1986,
Melbourne,
Australia: During the
bombing of the Turkish consulate in Melbourne, one attacker was killed by his own bomb; the other one was arrested. An Australian woman was wounded. Responsibility was claimed by the Greek-Bulgarian-Armenian Front, but it is believed that JCAG was behind this attack. 25 total dead ==See also==