Bora Suelkan: Turkey remembers attaché assassinated by Armenian terror group in 1982

By Ahmet Gencturk

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey on Thursday remembered attaché Bora Suelkan, who was assassinated by an Armenian terror group in 1982.

“We remember with respect our martyr Bora Suelkan, Administrative Attaché of the Turkish Consulate General in Burgas, assassinated in the heinous attack by the Armenian terrorist organization JCAG on 9 September 1982,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Twitter.

On Sept. 9, 1982, in front of his house in the Bulgarian Black Sea port city, Suelkan was shot from close range with three bullets, one of which found his heart.

The attack was one of the scores of assassinations of Turkish diplomats and their families around the world by Armenian terror groups: the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), Armenian Justice Commandos (JCAG) and Armenian Revolutionary Army (ARA).

According to data compiled by Anadolu Agency, a total of 77 people – 58 of them Turkish citizens, including 31 diplomats and members of their families – lost their lives in attacks carried out by the terrorist groups from 1973 to 1986.

The murderous campaign started in 1973 when Turkey's Consul General in Los Angeles Mehmet Baydar and diplomat Bahadir Demir were martyred in an attack by a terrorist named Gourgen Yanikian.

ASALA was the first Armenian terrorist group to wage war against Turkey. It targeted not only Turkey but also other countries and became infamous for a 1975 bomb attack on the Beirut office of World Council of Churches.

The JCAG initially gained notoriety by claiming responsibility with ASALA for the Oct. 22, 1975 attack on Danis Tunaligil, Turkey's ambassador in Vienna.

The ARA is considered to be a continuation of JCAG under a different name.