Şarık Arıyak (3 March 1930 – 17 December 1980) was a Turkish diplomat killed by an organization named

Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide (JCAG) ( hy, Հայկական Ցեղասպանութեան Արդարութեան Մարտիկներ, ՀՑԱՄ) was an Armenian militant organization active from 1975 to 1987. JCAG conducted an interna ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Early life

Şarık Arıyak was born on 3 March 1930 in

İstanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, Turkey. After finishing

Sivas Sivas (Latin and Greek: ''Sebastia'', ''Sebastea'', Σεβάστεια, Σεβαστή, ) is a city in central Turkey and the seat of Sivas Province. The city, which lies at an elevation of in the broad valley of the Kızılırmak river, is a ...

High School and Faculty of Political Science of

Ankara University Ankara University ( tr, Ankara Üniversitesi) is a public university in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the formation of the republic in 1923. The university has 40 vocat ...

he traveled to

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

for further studies at the

University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; french: links=no, Université de Lausanne) in Lausanne, Switzerland was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second oldest in Switzer ...

. He served in the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Eco ...

and then he transferred to the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

in 1959. In 1969, he married to Demet Gülöz. During his youth he played football in Gençlerbirliği S.K. He was also a

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

track runner.

Professional life

In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs he served in the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

department. Later he served in the embassies in

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

and

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

. Next he was appointed as the chief secretary of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

embassy. In 1975 he returned home to serve in the Culture department of the ministry. On 30 November 1978 he was appointed as the consul general in

.Bilal Şimşir: ''Şehit Diplomatlarımız'', Bilgi yayınevi, İstanbul, Vol 1, pp.359-360

Assassination

On 17 December 1980 at 9:45am local time, Arıyak was assassinated by two unknown men in Portland Street,

Dover Heights Dover Heights is a coastal, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Dover Heights is 9 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council. Its postcode is 2030 ...

, while he was about to leave his home for his office. (Originally published 18 December 1980) Arıyak and his bodyguard, Engin Sever, were leaving the residence in separate vehicles when they were attacked by two men on a motorcycle, who were wearing motorcycle helmets. One kept the engine running as the other shot at close range Sever, and then Arıyak. Arıyak died on the scene and Sever died soon after at a hospital. A secret organization, the Justice Commandos of the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was ...

, claimed responsibility for the assassination via telephone messages. Arıyak was survived by his wife and his 8-year-old daughter, who both were the witnesses to the assassination. The killers were not apprehended.

Re-investigation

On 17 December 2019, it was announced that

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Joint Counter Terrorism Team established Strike Force Esslemont to re-investigate the murders. The reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction was increased from $250,000 to $1 million, which is the first ever million-dollar reward offered in Australia for an act of terrorism. The investigators released computer-generated images of the suspects, based on witness descriptions. In August 2020 Joint Counter Terrorism Team revealed that information gathered since the 2019 announcement of the reward resulted in investigators retrieving a number of items of interest from the bottom of Sydney Harbour, which would undergo forensic examination.

Legacy

A street in İstanbul was named after Şarık Arıyak.İstanbul map page
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References