The Turkish Embassy in Serbia on Wednesday remembered its ambassador who was assassinated by an Armenian terrorist group in 1983.
"(We) paid tribute to Ambassador Galip Balkar who lost his life after Armenian terrorists' attack perpetrated 39 years ago today," Turkish Ambassador in Belgrade Hami Aksoy said on Twitter.
In a commemoration ceremony at the embassy, Aksoy stressed that terrorism has no religion, nation or border, and said: "Terrorism is not over, we are fighting different forms of terrorism ... I commemorate all our martyrs with mercy and gratitude."
He added that Galip Balkar made significant contributions to the development of relations between Turkey and Yugoslavia during his ambassadorship between 1981-1983.
Two members of the Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide (JCAG) terrorist group attacked Balkar with automatic weapons near the Turkish Embassy on March 9, 1983. The ambassador was seriously injured in the attack and died two days later.
A Yugoslav student, who was hit by a bullet during the attack, also died.
The assailants – Kirkor Levonyan and Raffi Aleksandr – were arrested on March 9, 1984, and each was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Armenian terrorist groups killed 31 Turkish diplomats and family members across the globe between 1973 and 1986, including Balkar.
The vast majority of the attacks were conducted by the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) and JCAG terrorist groups.
