Turkish diplomat Taha Carım killed by the Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide (JCAG) terrorist organization in 1977, has been remembered in a ceremony in Italy.
Carım, who was ambassador to the Vatican, was remembered at the Turkish Embassy in the city, attended by Türkiye’s ambassador to Italy Elif Çomoğlu Ülgen, ambassador of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) to Rome Mustafa Kemal Beyazbayram, as well as diplomatic representatives from Azerbaijan’s Embassy in the Italian capital.
“Our late Ambassador Carım, who was ambushed in front of his house on his way back from duty exactly 48 years ago, on June 9, 1977, is the third Turkish ambassador to be martyred in the line of duty as a result of the bloody acts of Armenian terrorism. We also respectfully commemorate our other martyred Ambassadors, Daniş Tunalıgil and Ismail Erez, on this occasion,” Elif Okuducu, charge d’affaires to the Vatican, said following a moment of silence.
She reminded that Carım had been a successful diplomat, also praised by the pope of the time.
Ülgen, for her part, said that the diplomatic institution that gave the most martyrs around the globe is the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
"I am not saying Armenian terrorism because it is a very big crime that cannot be attributed to nations, religions or masses. But unfortunately, committing this in the name of a nation, in the name of a race, is a very terrible thing, and we were subjected to this.”
She concluded her words, underlining that Türkiye is today stronger and more astute.
The terror campaign started in 1973 when Türkiye's Los Angeles Consul General Mehmet Baydar and diplomat Bahadir Demir were assassinated by a terrorist named Gourgen Yanikian.
The vast majority of the attacks on Turkish diplomats and citizens in the 1970s and 1980s were conducted by the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) and the JCAG, both designated as terrorist groups in the U.S. and Türkiye.
Founded in 1975 in Beirut, Lebanon, during the Lebanese Civil War, ASALA is responsible for hundreds of bloody terrorist acts.
ASALA was the first Armenian terror group to launch a campaign against Türkiye. It targeted not only Türkiye but also other countries and became infamous for a 1975 bomb attack on the Beirut office of the World Council of Churches.
The attack at Esenboğa airport in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Aug. 7, 1982, was one of the most notorious attacks by ASALA, as the group targeted civilians for the first time.
