Two separate commemoration ceremonies were held, the first in Santa Barbara – some 160 kilometers (100 miles) northwest of Los Angeles – for Consul General Mehmet Baydar and Consul Bahadir Demir, who were killed on Jan. 27, 1973 by an Armenian terrorist.
Consul General Kemal Arikan was also separately commemorated at the site in Los Angeles where he was slain on Jan. 28, 1982.
The ceremonies were attended by Türkiye's Consul General in Los Angeles Sinan Kuzum along with Azerbaijan's Consul General Vugar Gurbanov as well as members of the Turkish community.
Kuzum said Baydar and Demir were the first Foreign Ministry "martyrs" to fall victim to Armenian terrorism, adding that Armenian terrorists targeted many diplomats as well as their spouses and children.
The sorrow of these incidents is still "deeply" felt by Foreign Ministry personnel, he said.
From 1973 to 1986, the terror groups ASALA (Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia), JCAG (Armenian Justice Commandos), and ARA (Armenian Revolutionary Army) carried out attacks targeting Turkish diplomats and their families.
The murderous campaign started in 1973, when Türkiye's Baydar and Demir were killed in an attack by a terrorist named Gourgen Yanikian.
In total, terrorist attacks by ASALA, the JCAG, and ARA left 77 people dead, including 58 members of the public along with diplomats and their families.
AzVision.az
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