By Ahmet Gencturk
ANKARA (AA) - Turkey on Wednesday remembered counsellor Yilmaz Colpan, assassinated by an Armenian terror group.
"We remember with respect our martyr Tourism and Information Counsellor Yilmaz Colpan of our embassy in Paris, assassinated in a heinous attack by the terrorist organization JCAG on Dec. 22, 1979," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Twitter.
On Dec. 22, 1979, in front of Fouquet restaurant at the famous Champ Elysees, Colpan was shot by terrorists who eventually claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of the Armenian Justice Commandos (JCAG) terror group.
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), 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 these 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 killed 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 the 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.