Kemal Arıkan (1927–1982) was a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

diplomat assassinated by two US citizens of

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

origin in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, United States.

Early life

He was born on 1927 in

İskilip İskilip is a district of Çorum Province, Turkey, on the left bank of the River Kızılırmak, located at 56 km from the city of Çorum, 100 miles (160 km) northeast of Ankara and 60 miles (100 km) southeast of Kastamonu. It covers an area of 1, ...

Çorum Province Çorum ( tr, ) is a province in the Black Sea Region of Turkey, but lying inland and having more characteristics of Central Anatolia than the Black Sea coast. Its provincial capital is the city of Çorum, the traffic code is 19. History Excav ...

. After completing his education at

Ankara University, Law School The Ankara University, Law School ( tr, Ankara Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesi formerly known ''Ankara Adliye Hukuk Mektebi'') is a faculty for law of the Ankara University in Turkey. History Ankara University, Law School, was founded as a par ...

and

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, he began serving in Turkish government offices. In 1955 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 ...

. He was married and had two children.

Professional life

While working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he served at the embassies in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

and

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 ...

, in addition to various offices in Turkey. In 1978 he was appointed as the

consul general A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

in Los Angeles. Los Angeles had become a critical location for Turkish representatives, after another consul general, Mehmet Baydar, and vice consul,

Bahadır Demir Bahadır is a common masculine Turkish given name. In Turkish, "Bahadır" means "brave", "galahad", "hero", "valiant", and/or "gallant". This name is written with a dotless ı. It appears as BAHADIR in uppercase and bahadır in lowercase. Relat ...

, were assassinated there in 1973. Arıkan left his two children in Canberra,

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 ...

, which was one of his former places of duty. In an interview with the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', he was asked about the risks of living in Los Angeles, and responded by saying, "you take precautions."Bilal Şimşir:''Şehit Diplomatlarımız'', Bilgi yayınevi, İstanbul, Vol 1, .82

Assassination

On 28 January 1982, at about 9:30 am, Arıkan was driving from his home to his office. When he stopped at a red

stoplight Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – known also as robots in South Africa are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control flows of traffic. Traffic lights ...

, two armed men began shooting at him. He was hit 14 times. The two men were

Harry Sassounian Hampig Sassounian (; born January 1, 1963) or Harry M. Sassounian ( hyw, Հարրի Մ. Սասունեան), is an American citizen involved in the 1982 assassination of Turkish Consul General Kemal Arıkan in Los Angeles. He was identified as ...

(also known as Hampig Sassounian) and Krikor Saliba. Although Saliba disappeared without a trace, Sassounian was arrested, and in 1984 he was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. In 2002, prosecutors agreed to drop the so-called "national origin" special circumstance of the case, making Sassounian eligible for parole, in exchange for his admitting his guilt and formally apologizing.Lorelei Laird. "Sassounian Gets Life With Parole for Assassination in Sentencing Deal", ''Metropolitan News-Enterprise'', p. 1, Monday, October 21, 2002
/ref> Sassounian said, "I participated in the murder of Kemal Arikan. I renounce the use of terrorist tactics to achieve political goals. I regret the suffering of the Arıkan family." The California Prison Parole Board denied Sassounian's parole in 2006, 2010 and 2013. On 14 December 2016, the California Board of Parole granted parole for Sassounian. Turkey's Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the decision of his release and Turkish American groups urged California Governor

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...

to deny parole. Brown denied the parole in May 2017, vetoing the board's decision. In a statement, Brown said he believes Sassounian would still pose "an unreasonable danger to society if released," adding that "The killing was a deliberate, planned assassination of a diplomat, plotted at least two weeks in advance." In 2020, the denial of Sassounian's parole was reversed by a court in

. Governor

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom (born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman who has been the 40th governor of California since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 49th lieutenant governor of California fr ...

decided not to appeal the change, and Sassounian was released from prison in 2020. He moved to

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...

in 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arıkan, Kemal 1927 births 1982 deaths People from İskilip Ankara University alumni Harvard University alumni Deaths by firearm in California Terrorist attacks attributed to Armenian militant groups Turkish people murdered abroad Assassinated Turkish diplomats Assassinated Turkish civil servants Burials at Aşiyan Asri Cemetery