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Community Information Service
March 14, 2016 / No:920

ATAA Condemns Heinous Terrorist Attack
that Killed 37 and Wounded 125 in Ankara



The Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA) strongly condemns yesterday's terrorist attack that killed at least 37 and wounded 125 others in the Kizilay district of Ankara, Turkey.

Turkey has been target of  terrorism for decades namely by Armenian extremists groups, ASALA and JCAG, and Kurdish extremist group, PKK, since the 1960s, and most recently by DAESH/ISIS.

Since 1973, Armenian terrorists groups, particularly the left-wing ASALA and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation's militant wing JCAG, committed 239 attacks, killing at least 70, including 42 foreign service officers, wounding over 700 innocent people, and causing  millions of dollars in property damage worldwide.

Since 1984, the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) has caused the deaths of over 40,000 people. The PKK has caused billions of dollars of property damage in Turkey and other countries. The PKK claims to represent Kurds, but includes a sliver of roughly 5000 radicals and militants who are based out of Iraq, supported for decades by Syria, and obtain revenue by narcotics and cigarette smuggling in the EU. PKK terrorist attacks continue to date.

The scourge of terrorism will not end until nations stop ignoring or even aiding groups which utilize terrorism as a tool, and until all nations start cooperating.

As the preeminent representative of the Turkish American community, ATAA mourns the loss of innocent lives and offers its heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and the Turkish nation while wishing a speedy recovery to those injured as a result of this atrocious act.


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ATAA, representing over 60 local chapters and 500,000 Turkish Americans throughout the United States, serves locally and in Washington DC to empower the Turkish American community through civic engagement, and to support strong US-Turkish relations through education and advocacy.  Established in 1979, ATAA is the largest, democratically elected Turkish American membership organization in the United States.  As a non-faith based organization, ATAA is open to people of diverse backgrounds.  The ATAA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization formed under the laws of the District of Columbia. To learn more about ATAA, please visit www.ataa.org. 
© Entire contents copyright 2016 by the Assembly of Turkish American Associations. All rights reserved. 
 
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