Turkey remembers diplomat martyred in US

By Ahmet Gencturk

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey on Thursday remembered its martyred diplomat Kemal Arikan.

Recalling that Arikan, Turkey’s consul general in the US city of Los Angeles, was martyred by Armenian terrorists affiliated with the JCAG terror group, Serdar Kilic, Turkey’s ambassador to the US, noted that he will be remembered with respect as a distinguished diplomat.

Arikan was shot to death 14 times by Hampig Sassounian and Krikor Saliba. Saliba escaped justice, but Sassounian was arrested and sentenced to life in prison in 1984.

Since the 1970s, Armenian terror groups martyred 31 Turkish diplomats and their family members, according to data compiled by Anadolu Agency.

The vast majority of the attacks were conducted by the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) and JCAG.

The assassinations took place in the US, Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Lebanon, Greece, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada, Portugal, Iran and the UK.