ATA-A Media Release
20 August 2014
Australian Turkish Advocacy Alliance strongly condemns the gun attack occurred at the Turkish Embassy in Moscow on Monday, August 18, 2014 by an Armenian origin suspect.
The attacker who opened fire with a rifle on the Turkish Embassy, has been identified as 43 year old Arthur Mirzoyan, an Armenian origin man, reportedly refused to explain his motive for the attack. Russian officials claimed that Mirzoyan might have attacked the embassy due to the tension between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Turkey has suffered from international terrorism, namely by Armenian extremists groups,ASALA and JCAG, and Kurdish extremist group, PKK, since the 1960’s, and most recently by extremist groups, Al-Qaeda and ISIL.
Since 1973, Armenian terrorists groups, particularly the left-wing ASALA and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation’s militant wing JCAG, committed 239 attacks, killing at least 70, including 42 foreign service officers, wounding over 700 innocent people, and causing billions of dollars in property damage worldwide. These attacks include the assassination of the Turkish Consul-General Sarik Ariyak and defence attache Engin Sever in December 17th,1980 in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and bombing of Turkish Consulate in Melbourne in November 23rd, 1986.
Since 1984, the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) has caused the deaths of over 35,000 people, including Americans. The PKK has caused billions of dollars of property damage in Turkey and other countries. The PKK claims to represent Kurds, but includes a sliver of roughly 5000 radicals and militants who used to obtain revenue by narcotics and cigarette smuggling in the EU. PKK is listed as a terrorist organisation by the Australian Government and its terrorist attacks continue to date.
AUSTRALIAN TURKISH ADVOCACY ALLIANCE
