Assassination of Orhan Gündüz explained

Assassination of Orhan Gündüz
Date:May 4, 1982
Location:Somerville, Massachusetts
Type:Assassination
Target:Orhan Gündüz
Fatalities:Orhan Gündüz
Weapons:9mm semiautomatic pistol
.357 magnum revolver
Perp:Unknown
Perpetrators:Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide
Motive:Retaliation for the Armenian genocide

The assassination of Orhan Gündüz, Turkish businessman and diplomat, took place on May 4, 1982, in Somerville, Massachusetts.

An Armenian gunman attacked and killed Orhan Gündüz, a Turkish honorary consul, while he waited in his automobile in rush-hour traffic near Union Square, Somerville. The gunman escaped. Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide (JCAG) claimed responsibility.[1]

The assassination occurred six weeks after Gündüz was wounded in a bomb attack at his Central Square, Cambridge gift shop, Topkapi Imports, on March 22, before which JCAG threatened that Gündüz either resign as an honorary consul or be executed. Salespersons at Topkapi Imports commented that neither the store nor Gündüz had been given police protection despite the fact that the store had been the site of the prior bombing. There was, however, a significant police presence in the area of the store at all hours as it was on the same street as the Cambridge Police headquarters and about 150 feet away.

To help solve Gündüz's murder, local television and newspapers utilized a composite drawing based on information provided by a witness in order to apprehend the assassin. When the witness was subsequently gunned down, all community efforts to help apprehend the assassin came to a halt. The Somerville Police Department and FBI were never able to apprehend the assassin.[2]

Notes and References

  1. News: Gunman in jogging suit slays Turkish consul on U.S. street. May 5, 1982. Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. 6A. 10 September 2021.
  2. Foreign Affairs, Vol. 61, No. 3, America and the World 1982 (1982) by Janis A. Kreslins. Chronology 1982, pp. 714-744