Atilla Altıkat

Colonel Atilla Altıkat was the Turkish military attaché to Ottawa, Canada, who was assassinated in 1982. The Armenian group, Justice Commandos Against Armenian Genocide, claimed responsibility for the attackFact|date=January 2008. The act was forcefully condemned by the Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre TrudeauFact|date=January 2008.

Before being assigned to Ottawa in 1981, Altıkat had been an officer in the Turkish air force. He was married and had two teenage children. Altıkat was killed on his way to work at around 9:00 a.m. on August 23, 1982. When his car stopped for a red light on the Airport Parkway, a car stopped nearby, a passenger got out and fired nine shots from a 9mm Browning handgun through the passenger window of the car, killing the diplomat instantlyFact|date=January 2008.

The attack was one in a series of attacks on Turkish diplomats around the world. On April 8, 1982, the Turkish Commercial Counselor in Ottawa, Kani Güngör, had been seriously injured in a failed assassination attempt. Two years later, a group of Armenian guerrillas occupied the Turkish Embassy in Ottawa, killing a Canadian security guard and seriously injuring the ambassador. While those responsible for the other two attacks were caught and prosecuted, the killing of Altıkat remains unsolved, despite the offer of a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrestFact|date=January 2008.

ee also

*List of Turkish diplomats
*List of assassinated people from Turkey

References