Assassination of Erkut Akbay
| Assassination of Erkut Akbay | |
|---|---|
| Location | Lisbon, Portugal |
| Date | 7 June 1982 |
Attack type | armed attack |
| Deaths | 2 |
| Perpetrators | JCAG |
The assassination of Erkut Akbay refers to the murder of the Turkish administrative attache, Erkut Akbay, 40, in Lisbon, where the diplomat was serving, on 7 June 1982. Akbay was assassinated near his home on the outskirts of the city as he returned home for lunch with his wife.
Assassination
[edit]40-year-old Erkut Akbay and his wife arrived at their home for lunch in Suburban Lisbon on 7 June 1982 when an unknown gunman fired several shots into the vehicle, killing Akbay and seriously wounding his wife, 39-year-old Nadide Akbay.[1] Erkut was shot five times from a 9mm pistol.[1] Nadide was taken to Lisbon's Sao Jose Hospital in critical condition, where she underwent surgery.[1][2] Doctors said a bullet had passed through her head and required a 4+1⁄2-hour operation by a team of eleven doctors.[3] She died after eight months in coma on 11 January 1983 at Ankara Hospital.[2]
A witness to the murders said that they had seen a single gunman wearing a stocking mask.[1] Other witnesses described the man as in his 20's, wearing a white track suit and a white stocking mask.[1] They said he fled on foot after tossing the gun under the couple's car.[1] The Portuguese government ordered extra security measures to protect Turkish diplomats after the incident.[3]
A group calling itself Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide claimed responsibility for the killings in a phone call to the Lisbon bureau of Agence France Presse.[4][1] The anonymous caller said "We've killed two Turkish diplomats" before hanging up.[1] Armenian terrorist groups had killed 22 Turkish diplomats since 1973.[1] The groups claimed that they were motivated by a desire to avenge the estimated 1.5 million Armenians killed by internal Turkish fighting between 1894 and 1915.[1]
See also
[edit]- List of Turkish diplomats assassinated by Armenian militant organisations
- 1983 Turkish embassy attack in Lisbon
- List of ASALA attacks
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Diplomat shot, killed in Lisbon". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Associated Press. 8 June 1982. p. 2 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Turk Wounded in June Attack By Armenian Terrorists Dies". The New York Times. Associated Press. 11 January 1983.
- ^ a b "Security clamp after gun raid". The Bolton News. Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. 8 June 1982. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "AROUND THE WORLD; Turkish Envoy in Lisbon Is Killed by Gunman (Published 1982)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2022-09-22.
- 1980s in Lisbon
- 1982 murders in Portugal
- Assassinated Turkish diplomats
- Assassinations in Portugal
- Crime in Lisbon
- June 1982 in Europe
- Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide
- Murder in Portugal
- People murdered in Portugal
- Portugal–Turkey relations
- Terrorist attacks attributed to Armenian militant groups
- Turkish people murdered abroad