Martyred Turkish diplomat remembered in Geneva

By Fatih Erel

GENEVA (AA) - A Turkish diplomat in Geneva who was martyred in 1981 by an Armenian terrorist group, was commemorated on Saturday.

A terrorist from the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) shot Turkish diplomat Mehmet Savas Yerguz in Geneva in 1981.

There was a minute of silence during the ceremony, followed by Swiss and Turkish national anthems at the Promenade de l'Observatoire in Geneva, close to the street where he was martyred.

Since the mid-1970s, ceremonies have been held around the world over the memory of Turkish officials, diplomats, their families and innocent people of all nationalities who have been victims of Armenian terrorists.

During the 1975-1984 period, Turkish ambassadors and diplomats were targeted around the world by the Armenian terrorist groups. ASALA killed a total of 42 Turkish diplomats and officials in various attacks during that decade.

The Armenian terrorist acts intensified from 1980 to 1983, when 580 of the 699 attacks occurred. The terrorist attacks ended in 1986.

Speaking during the ceremony, Turkish diplomats condemned the installation of an "Armenian Monument" in Geneva where an Armenian terrorist assassinated Turkish diplomat.

The president of the Federation of Turkish-Swiss Associations (BITDEFE), the grandson of a former Turkish president, Celal Bayar who organized the ceremony said: "37 years ago, on Tuesday, June 9,1981, Mehmet Savas Yerguz, Secretary of the Turkish Consulate in Geneva, who had just left his job was cowardly murdered with three bullets fired by a fanatical young Armenian, Mardiros Jamkochyan, member of the terrorist organization ASALA."

At the ceremony, two Turkish students from theTurquia1912 group played viola and violin.

After the speeches, participants left flowers under the portrait of Yerguz and Bayar placed a wreath on the street where Yerguz was martyred.