| 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.
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 during the Armenian Genocide. [1]