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Community Information Service
April 8, 2016 / No:934


ATAA Remembers Victims of Armenian Terrorism


April 3, 1981 - Copenhagen, Denmark

An Armenian gunman shoots Turkish Embassy Labor Attaché, Cavit Demir, as he is entering his apartment building. Mr. Demir is seriously wounded but survives after a series of operations.  ASALA and JCAG claim responsibility for the attack.
 

April 8, 1982 - Ottawa, Canada
  
Armenian gunmen open fire on Turkish Embassy Commercial Attaché, Mr. Kani Gungor, as he enters the garage of his apartment complex.

The following day ASALA issues a statement, "We warn the Canadian authorities that any attempt to persecute the Armenian community in Canada will not pass without punishment." Mr. Gungor is left paralyzed by the shooting. Five Canadian ASALA members - Nicholas Moumdjian, Haroutium Kevork, Haig Balian, Haig Karkhanian, and Melkon Karakhanian - are arrested.

Three are convicted. In 1986, the Canadian Security Intelligence Review Committee decides to deport Moumdjian, claiming that he conspired to assassinate Mr. Kani Gungor, that he had purchased items that could be used to make a bomb, and that he believed in the indiscriminate use of violence for political ends. Moumdjian immediately appealed the 1988 decision of the Security Committee to the Toronto Federal Court of Appeals.

Before the appeal process is completed, Moumdjian flees Canada, stating that he was going to Armenia as a part of a "humanitarian mission." It was last reported that Moumdjian had enrolled as a political science major at York University.

April 17, 1980 - Rome, Italy

In an assassination attempt, an Armenian gunman shoots the Turkish Ambassador to the Holy See, Vecdi Turel, seriously wounding him. The Ambassador's chauffeur, Tahsin Guvenc, is also wounded in the attack. JCAG claims responsibility.
 

April 28, 1984 - Teheran, Iran

Two Armenian gunmen riding a motorcycle open fire on a diplomatic spouse, Isik Yonder, as he drives his wife, Sadiye Yonder, to the Turkish Embassy where she works. Isik Yonder is killed and Sadiye Yonder is injured. ASALA claims responsibility.
 
 
ATAA condemns these acts of violence against innocent individuals and remembers these tragedies with great sorrow and deliberation to bring the perpetrators and their supporters to justice.
 

 
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.
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