Director of Communications Altun: "The century-long attacks on the Turkish nation and state by terrorist organisations such as ASALA, PKK, DAESH, and FETO have been and will continue to be unsuccessful.”
In his video message for the inauguration of the Martyred Diplomats Exhibition, Presidency's Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun said, "We strive to adopt a holistic approach to history reading in the face of those who attempt to rewrite history by relying on assumptions rather than facts and distorting reality along the way."
The fifth "Martyred Diplomats Exhibition," organised by the Presidency's Directorate of Communications and previously held in Istanbul, Los Angeles, Washington, and New York, was inaugurated in Vienna.
Director of Communications Altun, who attended the exhibition's inauguration via video message, stated that they hoped that important exhibition, commemorating martyred diplomats who lost their lives in attacks and assassinations by Armenian terrorist organisations, would bring the attacks, which ASALA and its affiliated terrorist organisations tried to legitimise by using the events of 1915 as an excuse, to the attention of international public opinion and would shed light on their true motives.
Director of Communications Altun said that the panel on "Martyred Diplomats: Victims of Ethnic Terrorism" would be held on the same day in Vienna to achieve the same goal.
Director of Communications Altun underlined the fact that the Armenian terrorist organisations, primarily ASALA, martyred 58 Turkish citizens, 31 of whom were diplomats, as well as their families and consular personnel, in attacks that began in 1973 and took place almost entirely in Western countries, emphasising that they believed that they owed it to the martyrs to accurately inform the entire world about the murders in question, which occurred in 16 countries.
Martyred diplomats
Director of Communications Altun stated that terrorist attacks by Armenian organisations began in 1973 when Türkiye's Consul-General Mehmet Baydar and Consul Bahadır Demir in Los Angeles were martyred by an Armenian person in Santa Barbara, saying that these terrorist acts had repercussions in Austria as well as in many other countries, and on October 22, 1975, Türkiye's Ambassador to Austria, Daniş Tunalıgil, was martyred in Vienna.
Director of Communications Altun said that after Türkiye's Ambassador was martyred, Vienna became a hotspot for terrorist attacks against Turkish diplomats and added:
"Erdoğan Özen, Deputy Counsellor for Labour of the Turkish Embassy in Vienna, was martyred on June 20, 1984, in the second assassination carried out by Armenian terrorists, and Evner Ergun, International Officer at the UN Office in Vienna, was martyred on November 19, 1984, in the third assassination in this city. For these reasons, we are in the ideal setting today to commemorate our ambassadors who were assassinated by the ASALA terror. We believe it is our responsibility to inform the world public opinion that the perpetrators of the majority of our diplomats' assassinations could not be found or tried. Our diplomats, who are the flag bearers for the mission entrusted to them, continue to perform their duties with the same zeal and courage. They, like our martyred diplomats, do not avoid any responsibility and go to great lengths to safeguard Türkiye's and the Turkish nation's rights in the international arena."
Director of Communications Altun stated that the ASALA terrorism, which is being attempted to be justified by the baseless claims about the events of 1915, is a reflection of the acts of Armenian gangs in Anatolia during World War I, and they must evaluate ASALA terrorism together with the Armenian gangs during the Great War a century ago, not in separate contexts.
Remarking that the trigger of ASALA that was directed at the Turkish nation and its diplomats is the twenty-first-century reflection of Dashnak gangs' previous hostility against the Turkish nation, Director of Communications Altun noted that both structures tried to undermine the Turkish state, used various methods, but served the same purpose.
Director of Communications Altun said, "Therefore, the bullet fired at our late Ambassador to Vienna, Daniş Tunalıgil, in Vienna came from the same gun that shot Ottoman Minister of Internal Affairs Talaat Pasha in Berlin. The Khojaly massacre of 1992 is an extension of the atrocities committed against the Turkish population in Anatolia during World War I.”
"We continue to build the future together, inspired by our deep-rooted solidarity"
Remarking that, "We strive to adopt a holistic approach to history reading in the face of those who attempt to rewrite history by relying on assumptions rather than facts and distorting reality along the way, and we stand by the truth," Director of Communications Altun said:
"The century-long attacks on the Turkish nation and state by terrorist organisations such as ASALA, PKK, DAESH, and FETO have been and will continue to be unsuccessful. We will continue to fight against terrorist organisations, and while we continue this fight, we shall continue to live in peace and security with every component of our nation, from the past to the present. Despite the destructive schemes of some groups, we continue to build the future together, inspired by our deep-rooted solidarity with our Armenian citizens for nearly a thousand years. Creating a fairer memory could also contribute to the normalisation of relations between Türkiye and Armenia."
Stressing that it is also necessary to build a constructive discourse that breaks down prejudices with an outlook that focuses on the future, Director of Communications Altun expressed that they will continue to see history as a source of richness in order to establish common relations and to resist forces that would exploit and use it as a tool for hate speech.
On this occasion, Director of Communications Altun commemorated all diplomats, family members, and citizens who were martyred with mercy and gratitude.
The exhibition will accept visitors until tomorrow evening
The exhibition, organised by the Presidency's Directorate of Communications, features photographs of martyred Turkish diplomats from 1973 to 1984, as well as newspaper clippings, crime scene images, country and city-specific graphics, and timeline studies describing terrorist acts and assassinations. The incidents and their outcomes are revealed in 16 country panels prepared for each country where the assassinations were organised.
Photographs of martyred diplomats are also displayed in high resolution in the exhibition using artificial intelligence technologies. Opening today at Vienna's Sofiensale Exhibition Hall, the exhibition will accept visitors until the evening of April 25.