Juan David Latorre
For yet another year, the Turkish Embassy has commemorated the 1978 bomb attack in which Necla Kuneralp, wife of the then Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey, Zeki Kuneralp, lost her life; her older brother, Beşir Balcıoğlu, a retired ambassador who was visiting the capital, and the Embassy’s chauffeur of Spanish nationality, Antonio Torres Olmedo.
At the junction of Fortuny and Jenner streets in Madrid, where the former Turkish Embassy was located, the Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy, Ayse Zeybek, took the floor and said: “We have many beautiful things in common that unite us with Spain, a friendly country, and with its people. Unfortunately, however, the occasion that has brought us together this morning is a painful memory that we share. Three Armenian terrorists who came to Madrid on the same day as Ambassador Balcıoğlu had been raised in hatred. The seven bullets that raised the ambassador and his sister to martyrdom and caused Antonio Torres Olmeda to lose his life were fired at this very spot where we are standing now. The world would learn of the assassination through the call of one of the assassins to the Agence France Press office in Madrid at 11 o’clock.”
“The Spanish government and people stood by our country in this terrible event,” the Turkish Chargé d’Affaires continued. The Spanish government condemned the attack right after it happened, and extended its condolences and support with the messages sent by King Juan Carlos I to Fahri Korutürk, President of the Republic of Turkey at the time, and by former Prime Minister Adolfo Suarez to the then Prime Minister of our Republic, Bülent Ecevit. King Juan Carlos posthumously bestowed the award of Dame of the Order of Isabella the Catholic on the fallen Necla Kuneralp, who was known for the deep affection she had for Spain, a friendly country, and for her people. Turks, Spaniards, we all strongly condemn terrorists who cruelly shoot at humanity in order to impose their ideas and opinions”.
Ayse Zeybek pointed out that “we are witnessing the use of history as an instrument to perpetuate hatred for political purposes. Unfortunately, we also observe such attempts from time to time in Spain. It is extremely important for us to count on the support of our Spanish friends in our fight against malicious circles that seek to poison Turkish-Spanish relations with their unfounded claims. We are also aware of the importance that Spain, a country that lost many of its citizens and suffered economic damage at the hands of terrorism, attaches to international cooperation in the fight against this scourge.”
“We respectfully commemorate all our fallen,” the Turkish Chargé d’Affaires concluded, “who were victims of terrorism and the lives Spain lost to terrorist attacks, we share the anguish of the sorrowful hearts left behind by the victims and wish that such attacks will never happen again.”
This attack is just one of many that took place across the world, especially in Europe, by terrorist organisations known as the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), Armenian Genocide Justice Commandos (AGJC) and the Armenian Revolutionary Army (ARA), targeting Turkish diplomats and their families. In this context, as a result of the attacks carried out by these organisations in different countries, 31 Turkish diplomats and their relatives were killed and 17 others were wounded.
