:::TurkishPAC:::

On this day, in 1983, two Armenian gunmen assassinate the Turkish Ambassador to Yugoslavia, Galip Balkar, and seriously wound his chauffeur, Necati Kayar, in central Belgrade. One of the gunmen, Antranig Boghosian (a.k.a. Harutiun Levonian), also opens fire on and seriously wounds a Yugoslav Colonel, other gunman, Raffi Elbekian, opens fire on the civilians, killing a young male student and wounding a young girl.

Turkey closed its Armenian Border and suspended the relations between Turkey and Armenia as a consequence of the Armenian occupation of the Azerbaijani territory of Nagorno-Karabagh, in 1992.  Recently a protocol between the Turkish and the Armenian governments has been signed, which may lead to the opening of Borders and normalizations of relations between the two nations, if approved by both nations’ parliaments.

9th Circuit Court of Appeals invalidated the 2000 Poochigian Law, in Movsesian v. Victoria Versicherung, et al.

In 2000 California enacted a law sponsored by state Senator Chuck Poochigian that sought to force insurance companies that had sold life insurance in the Ottoman Empire to Ottoman Armenians in effect to pay reparations to Armenian claimants under the disputed theory that they died from acts of genocide.

       

With the newest additions of Robert Latta (R-Ohio/5th District), Brian Baird (D-Washington/3rd District), Rodney Alexander (R-Louisiana/5th District), Vic Snyder (D-Arkansas/2nd District) and Russ Carnahan (D-Missouri/3rd District), the Caucus on US-Turkish Relations and Turkish Americans in the US House of Representatives reached its highest membership since its formation and now includes 87 members of Congress. The Turkish Caucus is a bi-partisan platform for members of Caucus to focus on US-Turkish relations and issues that concern Turkish Americans. Many of its members have joined this Caucus due to the efforts of their Turkish American constituents and friends of Turkey.

A full list of the Caucus members can be found at TCA website.

To commemorate some of these late efforts, the Turkish General Directorate of Post and Telegraph Organization (PTT) has issued two new stamps to honor the Turkish diplomats Necdet Kent (1911-2002) and Selahattin Ülkümen (1914-2003), who risked their own lives in order to save those of hundreds of Jews during the WWII.