The Melbourne Turkish consulate bombing was an attempt to bomb the Turkish
Consulate
A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth co ...
in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...
,
Victoria, Australia
Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in ...
, on 23 November 1986. A
car bomb
A car bomb, bus bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles.
Car bombs can be roughly divided ...
exploded in the basement car park, killing Hagop Levonian, one of the bombers, who was a member of the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( hy, Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն, ՀՅԴ ( classical spelling), abbr. ARF or ARF-D) also known as Dashnaktsutyun (collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short), is an Armenian ...
(ARF).
Background
This was a second Armenian attack on Turkish diplomats and agencies in Australia. In 1980, in a local example of a much wider international campaign, two Turkish officials, the Turkish Consul-General in
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 Mounta ...
, Şarık Arıyak, and his 28-year-old bodyguard were gunned down by two people. The Justice Commandos for the Armenian Genocide claimed responsibility for the assassination and despite a $250,000 reward offer by the Turkish Embassy, no charges were laid, and their assassins remained at large. In the 1970s and 1980s, Turkish diplomats were considered the second-greatest security risk worldwide, after Americans. Until 1986, 42 Turkish diplomats were killed by militants.
On 12 July 1983,
ASIO
''Asio'' is a genus of typical owls, or true owls, in the family Strigidae. This group has representatives over most of the planet, and the short-eared owl is one of the most widespread of all bird species, breeding in Europe, Asia, North and ...
intercepted JCAG member, Krikor Keverian, with four handguns in his baggage when returning from
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 ...
. On 14 July, another Armenian, Agop Magarditch, apparently panicking after hearing of Keverian's arrest, reported weapons in a shipment of furniture and personal items en route to him from Los Angeles. The shipment was intercepted and a
submachine gun
A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an autom ...
, five pistols and ammunition were found, with information on how to carry out an assassination. ASIO believes that this delayed the consulate attack for three years.
The federal police had the consulate, on the first floor, under 24-hour
surveillance
Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as ...
since the 1980 assassination of the Turkish consul, but the guard was withdrawn in 1985.
The attack
In 1986 the Turkish Consulate at 44 Caroline St,
South Yarra
South Yarra is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Melbourne and Stonnington local government areas. South Yarra recorded a popu ...
, was devastated by a car bomb. The blast occurred at 2:16 am, Melbourne time. One man, Hagob Levonian, was killed in the blast, which went off prematurely as he was setting the car bomb while Levon Demirian waited in a car nearby. The body of Levonian was found "scattered in hundreds of pieces". The men were members of a group known as the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation ( hy, Հայ Յեղափոխական Դաշնակցութիւն, ՀՅԴ ( classical spelling), abbr. ARF or ARF-D) also known as Dashnaktsutyun (collectively referred to as Dashnaks for short), is an Armenian ...
and planned the bombing as a political protest in retaliation for the genocide of the Armenians in 1915 in
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...
.Security stepped up in Australia. ''Herald Sun''. 25 June 1993 Friday
The device severely damaged the five-storey building in which the consulate was one of several tenants, blasted a
crater
Crater may refer to:
Landforms
* Impact crater, a depression caused by two celestial bodies impacting each other, such as a meteorite hitting a planet
* Explosion crater, a hole formed in the ground produced by an explosion near or below the surf ...
in the reinforced concrete wall and caused an intense fireball to strike nearby buildings, damaging about 20 buildings in the exclusive shopping and residential Toorak Road precinct of fashionable South Yarra. Within minutes of the bomb going off, police and emergency services were on the scene. They evacuated the area up to from the bomb site, including elderly women from a war widows' home.Group warns of further attacks as police seek blast centres. ''The Advertiser''. 24 November 1986 Monday Gas leaking from the consulate building was brought under control, and 70
firemen
A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...
tackled fires that had broken out in shops and offices. Police said a 22-year-old student who was studying on the third floor of the building when the bomb exploded escaped serious injury because she had drawn the heavy curtains, which protected her from the blast. She had only minor scratches, and was treated for
shock
Shock may refer to:
Common uses Collective noun
*Shock, a historic commercial term for a group of 60, see English numerals#Special names
* Stook, or shock of grain, stacked sheaves
Healthcare
* Shock (circulatory), circulatory medical emerge ...
by ambulance officers.
In a telephone call to the
Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse (AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency.
AFP has regional headquarters in Nicosia, Montevideo, Hong Kong and Washington, ...
news agency in Sydney, an unidentified and heavily accented caller warned of further violence after reading out a list of grievances against Turkey. "There will be more," he said. Responsibility was claimed by the previously unknown "Greek-Bulgarian-Armenian Front", but it is believed that JCAG was behind this attack.
In
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 ...
,
Minister for Foreign Affairs
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...
Bill Hayden
William George Hayden (born 23 January 1933) is an Australian politician who served as the 21st governor-general of Australia from 1989 to 1996. He was Leader of the Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1977 to 1983, and served as ...
said the Government would review diplomatic security procedures following the bombing. He condemned the bombing "in the strongest possible terms", and said Australia's regret at the incident had been conveyed to the Turkish government. "Australia would not tolerate acts of
terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
, wherever they occurred", he said. State Minister for Police and Emergency Services
Race Mathews
Charles Race Thorson Mathews (born 27 March 1935 ) is an Australian
Trial and sentence
Levon Demirian, an Armenian-Australian restaurateur of the Sydney suburb of Epping, was charged with murdering Hagob Levonian of the Sydney suburb of Willoughby. He was also charged with having conspired with Levonian to commit an illegal act by having used an explosive device which would have intentionally and without lawful excuse caused damage to a building and endangered lives of others. When Demirian's home was searched, police found a notebook containing the names, addresses and movements of Turkish Embassy staff, as well as books and diagrams on electronic devices and circuitry. Police alleged they also found 174 sticks of
gelignite
Gelignite (), also known as blasting gelatin or simply "jelly", is an explosive material consisting of collodion- cotton (a type of nitrocellulose or guncotton) dissolved in either nitroglycerine or nitroglycol and mixed with wood pulp and saltp ...
at the restaurant where Demirian worked. The original receipt was found on a part of the body of the man killed in the explosion.Turk consulate's address found in notebook: police. ''Courier-Mail''. 28 November 1986 Friday
The prosecutor Dickson told the jury the accused and his accomplice traveled from Sydney to plant the bomb. The bomb was intended to go off on Monday morning when people arrived for work, by which time the two men would be back in Sydney. Police believed many more would have died if the bomb, detonated at night, had gone off during the day, as intended.
Demirian fled back to Sydney with his wife and child the morning after and returned to a restaurant his family operated in
Lane Cove
Lane Cove is a suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lane Cove is nine kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governmen ...
.
Demirian admitted being in Melbourne at the time of the explosion and admitted purchasing the white
Torana
''Torana'' ( sa, तोरण; '' awr-uh-nuh') is a free-standing ornamental or arched gateway for ceremonial purposes in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain architecture of the Indian subcontinent. Toranas can also be widely seen in Southeast Asia and ...
which was used to place the bomb under the consulate only hours before the blast.
The consulate bombing was not the first time Demirian had come to the attention of investigators. In 1980 he was questioned over the assassination of Turkish consul-general Sarik Ariyak and his bodyguard in Sydney. They died in a hail of
machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles ...
bullets fired by the
pillion
A pillion is a secondary pad, cushion, or seat behind the main seat or saddle on a horse, motorcycle, bicycle or moped. A passenger in this seat is said to "ride pillion". The word is derived from the Scottish Gaelic for "little rug", ''pillea ...
passenger of a motorcycle.
After five hours of deliberation the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
jury found Demirian guilty on both the murder and conspiracy charges. On 27 November 1987 Demirian was sentenced to life imprisonment with a 25-year minimum, which had to be served in full under the law of the state of Victoria. Justice Kaye also sentenced him to 10 years on the conspiracy charge and ordered it to be served concurrently with the life sentence for murder. He was refused bail because it was feared that Demirian, if granted bail, would leave the country. At the time of his arrest he was carrying an air ticket to
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
.
Demerian then began a minimum 25-year sentence as the country's number-one high-risk security prisoner for masterminding Melbourne's 1986 Turkish Consulate car bombing. After the appeal to the Supreme Court the murder conviction was overturned, and he served 10 years. , Demerian lived in Sydney.Bomber lives among us now. ''Herald Sun'', 6 July 2006.
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...