The Embassy of the Republic of Turkey in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

() is

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

's diplomatic mission to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It is housed in a sprawling Tudor style manor located at 197 Wurtemberg Street overlooking the

Rideau River The Rideau River (, ) is a river in Eastern Ontario, Canada. The river flows north from Upper Rideau Lake and empties into the Ottawa River at the Rideau Falls in Ottawa, Ontario. Its length is . As explained in a writing by Samuel de Champl ...

. The building was built by Fisheries Commissioner William F. Whitcher in about 1869. In 1888, it was expanded and housed the Ottawa Children's Hospital, and remained a hospital until 1908. In 1953, it became home to the Turkish embassy.

Incidents

The Turkish embassy has been the site of a number of incidents. In the 1970s and 1980s Canada was home to several

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 around the ...

paramilitary groups. On April 8, 1982 Kani Gungor, the embassy's commercial attaché, was shot in the parking garage of his residence and left permanently paralyzed. Harout Kevork, Raffic Balian and the 17-year-old Haig Gharakhanian were arrested two years later for the crime.Bell, Stewart. "Cold Terror", 2005 Several months later on August 23 Col. Atilla Altıkat, the military attaché, was assassinated while driving to work. Both attacks were attributed to

Justice Commandos Against Armenian Genocide Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide (JCAG) () was an Armenian militant organization active from 1975 to 1987. JCAG conducted an international campaign of attacks against Turkish representatives and interests, primarily in Europe and Nort ...

. On the early morning of March 12, 1985 the Turkish Embassy building was attacked - a van pulled up outside the embassy. The three occupants climbed onto the roof of the van and then jumped over the wall of the embassy. The three men, members of the

Armenian Revolutionary Army The Armenian Revolutionary Army (ARA) (in Armenian Հայ Յեղափոխական Բանակ (ՀՅԲ)—pronounced Hay Heghapokhagan Panag) was an Armenian militant organization that attacked at least seven times resulting in at least six fatalities ...

, were armed with

shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, peppergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which discharges numerous small ...

s and

grenade A grenade is a small explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a Shell (projectile), shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A mod ...

s. The embassy was guarded by a private security officer, Claude Brunelle, who confronted the assailants. He fired four shots but hit no one. He was hit in the chest and killed. The assailants detonated a bomb at the entrance of the building, and then entered the structure. The ambassador at the time,

Coşkun Kırca Coşkun Kırca (27 March 1927 – 24 February 2005) was a Turkish diplomat, journalist and politician. He served as the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1995. He was at first a member of the Republican People's Party (CHP), then of the Rep ...

, fearing he was their target jumped from a second story window breaking a number of bones. The Armenians succeeding in taking twelve staff members hostage. Police response was swift and the building was soon surrounded. The assailants threatened a long siege but gave themselves up after four hours. After these incidents the Turks planned to leave their heritage structure for a more secure facility, but these plans have now been abandoned and major renovations to the embassy have just recently been completed. On February 17, 1999, the embassy was again hit by violence. A riot by some 300

Kurdish Kurdish may refer to: *Kurds or Kurdish people *Kurdish language ** Northern Kurdish (Kurmanji) **Central Kurdish (Sorani) **Southern Kurdish ** Laki Kurdish *Kurdish alphabets *Kurdistan, the land of the Kurdish people which includes: **Southern ...

nationalists resulted from the arrest of

Abdullah Öcalan Abdullah Öcalan ( ; ; born 4 April 1948 or 1949), also known as Apo (short for Abdullah in Turkish; Kurdish for "uncle"), is a founding member of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Öcalan was based in Syria from 1979 to 1998. He ...

. Chunks of ice were thrown at the embassy and police, as were

Molotov cocktail A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see '') is a hand-thrown incendiary weapon consisting of a frangible container filled with flammable substances and equipped with a Fuse (explosives), fuse (typically a glass bottle filled wit ...

s. These set one embassy office alight and the uniform of a

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

(RCMP) officer also caught fire. Both blazes were soon put out and no one was seriously injured. Several of the protesters were arrested.

References

External links

Official site
{{Diplomatic missions of Turkey

Canada–Turkey relations Designated heritage properties in Ottawa

Incidents

See also

References

External links