The following is an incomplete, chronological list of people from

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 ...

murdered by

assassin Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

s mainly on political and religious grounds. Many were critical public servants and intellectuals assassinated by

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

proponents of an army-controlled Turkish Republic. Many of the victims have historically been

intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and Human self-reflection, reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems. Coming from the wor ...

proponents of

laicism Laicism (also ''laicity'', from the Ancient Greek "''λαϊκός"'' "''laïkós"'', meaning "layperson" or "non-cleric") refers to a legal and political model based on the strict separation of religion and state. The French term ''laïcité'' ...

and the strict separation of religion and state in Turkey, as defined in the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

, and diplomats who were victims of militant attacks outside of Turkey.

Mustafa Suphi Mustafa Suphi or Mustafa Subhi (1883 – 28 January 1921) was a Turkish revolutionary and communist during the period of dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. Early life Suphi was born in 1883 in Giresun Province, in the Ottoman Empire, now lo ...

* 28 January 1921: Mustafa Suphi was the founder of the Communist Party of Turkey. Suphi and his 14 comrades were assassinated while they were being sent to

Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. It is the site of an ...

for trial.

Sabahattin Ali Sabahattin Ali (25 February 1907 – 2 April 1948) was a Turkish people, Turkish novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. Early life He was born in 1907 in Ardino, Eğridere township (now Ardino in southern Bulgaria) of the San ...

* 2 April 1948: Sabahattin Ali was a writer and critical intellectual who was assassinated at the

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

n border while fleeing from Turkey. He had been imprisoned by the Turkish government.

1970s

Mehmet Baydar and
Bahadır Demir Bahadır is a common masculine Turkish name, Turkish given name. In Turkish, "Bahadır" means "brave", "galahad", "hero", "valiant", and/or "gallant". This name is written with a dotless ı. It appears as BAHADIR in uppercase and bahadır in low ...

* 27 January 1973: Mehmet Baydar was Turkey's

consul general A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and Bahadır Demir his deputy, in 1973. Shot in a Santa Barbara hotel by Kourken Yanigian who had invited them there on the pretext of a donating a painting to the Turkish government. Yanigian, sentenced to life imprisonment, was amnestied in 1984 and died shortly afterwards. The event is considered to be the first in a decade-long chain of organized attacks against Turkish diplomats by

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 ...

militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Lat ...

groups.

Daniş Tunalıgil Hüseyin Daniş Tunalıgil (1915 – 22 October 1975) was a Turkish diplomat. He was assassinated by JCAG in 1975 during his duty as the Turkish ambassador to Austria. Life and career Tunalıgil was born in Ankara, Turkey in 1915. He graduated f ...

*22 October 1975: Turkey's Ambassador to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Daniş Tunalıgil was murdered by three

gunmen raiding the Embassy in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Ismail Erez

* 24 October 1975: Turkey's Ambassador to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

İsmail Erez and his driver Talip Yener were murdered by

militants in the vicinity of the Embassy in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

by car bomb.

Taha Carim

* 9 June 1977: Turkey's Ambassador to the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

Taha Carim was killed by the cross fire of two

gunmen in front of the Embassy's residency in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Bedrettin Cömert ( tr)

*11 March 1978: Art historian, scholar, literary critic and translator. He was serving on a committee investigating right-wing terror squads at his university. Shot dead in his car with his wife severely wounded by Rıfat Yıldırım, Üzeyir Bayraklı and by another man nicknamed "Ahmet" who were ultra-nationalists and believed to have been directly funded by the Turkish state. A tribunal found

Abdullah Çatlı Abdullah Çatlı (1 June 1956 – 3 November 1996) was a Turkish secret government agent, as well as a contract killer for the National Intelligence Organization (MİT). He led the Grey Wolves, the youth branch of the Nationalist Movement Party ...

responsible but nobody was punished as a result.

Doğan Öz Doğan Öz (1934 – 24 March 1978) was a Turkish prosecutor. He was assassinated in 1978 while investigating the Turkish deep state. In 1978 he wrote a report for Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit accusing clandestine groups of creating chaos in order ...

*24 March 1978: Public prosecutor who wrote a report for Prime Minister

Bülent Ecevit Mustafa Bülent Ecevit (; 28 May 1925 – 5 November 2006) was a Turkish politician, statesman, poet, writer, scholar, and journalist. He served as the Prime Minister of Turkey four times between 1974 and 2002. He served as prime minister in 197 ...

accusing clandestine groups (later named as Ergenekon) of creating chaos in order to lay the ground for a military takeover. Haluk Kırcı, a

Grey Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though grey ...

activist, was implicated in his assassination.

Bedri Karafakıoğlu Bedri Karafakioğlu (23 October 1915 – 20 October 1978) was a Turkish assassinated academic and former rector of Istanbul Technical University Early life He was born in Çorum on 29 October 1915. His father Süheyl Rumi was a civil servant ...

*20 October 1978: Former rector of

Istanbul Technical University Istanbul Technical University, also known as Technical University of Istanbul (, commonly referred to as İTÜ), is an public university, public technical university located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the world's third-oldest technical university ...

Abdi İpekçi Abdi İpekçi (9 August 1929 – 1 February 1979) was a Turkish journalist, intellectual and human rights activist. He was murdered when he was editor-in-chief of one of the main Turkish daily newspapers '' Milliyet'' which then had a cent ...

*1 February 1979: Editor of the major national newspaper ''

Milliyet ''Milliyet'' ( Turkish for "''nationality''") is a daily newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey. History and profile ''Milliyet'' came to publishing life at the Nuri Akça press in Babıali, Istanbul as a daily private newspaper on 3 May 1950 ...

''. Killed in his car in the street, where he lived, by

Mehmet Ali Ağca Mehmet Ali Ağca (; born 9 January 1958) is a Turkish hitman and former member of the Grey Wolves. He murdered Abdi İpekçi, a journalist, on 1 February 1979 and was imprisoned. He escaped from prison and travelled illegally to Vatican City o ...

, a member of the ultra-

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

, who would later try to assassinate the

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

in 1981.

Metin Yüksel Metin Yüksel (July 17, 1958 – February 23, 1979) was a Kurdish-Turkish political and social Islamist activist. One of the main leaders of Turkey's Islamic movement during the 1970s, he also was a member of the Raiders Organization. Early ...

*23 March 1979: Islamist political and social activist. Shot to death outside of

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Fatih Mosque The Fatih Mosque (, "Conqueror's Mosque" in English language, English) is an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman mosque off Fevzi Paşa Caddesi in the Fatih district of Istanbul, Turkey. The original mosque was constructed between 1463 and 1470 on the site ...

by nationalist gunmen while leaving Friday prayers.

Cevat Yurdakul

28 September 1979: prosecutor.

Ahmet Benler

12 October 1979: son of the Turkish ambassador to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, Özdemir Benler, murderered by ASALA.

İlhan Egemen Darendelioğlu

*19 November 1979: journalist and writer. Shot to death by unidentified left-wing militants.

Cavit Orhan Tütengil Cavit Orhan Tütengil (1921 – December 7, 1979) was a Turkish sociologist, writer and columnist, who was assassinated. Biography He was born in Sebil, a village of Tarsus, in Mersin province of what was then the Ottoman Empire. Following ...

* 7 December 1979: Professor of Sociology at

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

, columnist of the newspaper ''

Cumhuriyet ''Cumhuriyet'' (; English: "Republic") is the oldest up-market Turkish daily newspaper. It has been described as "the most important independent public interest newspaper in contemporary Turkey". The newspaper was awarded the ''Freedom of Press ...

''. Shot dead at a city bus stop in

1980s

Ümit Kaftancıoğlu Ümit Kaftancıoğlu (1935 – 11 April 1980) was a Turkish TV producer, writer and columnist of the newspaper ''Cumhuriyet''. Life and career Kaftancıoğlu was born in Saskara village, Hanak, Ardahan Province. He graduated from Cilavuz Villa ...

* 11 April 1980: TV producer, writer and columnist of the newspaper ''

''. Gunned down in front of his home in Istanbul as he was about to get in his car.

Gün Sazak Gün Sazak (26 March 1932 – 27 May 1980) was a Turkish nationalist politician and former government minister of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). He was assassinated by the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front after his police g ...

* 27 May 1980: briefly customs and tobacco minister of Turkey and a right wing politician. Murdered in front of his car while putting out baggage. Radical leftist militant group Dev Sol (Revolutionary Left) claimed responsibility for the attack.

Nihat Erim İsmail Nihat Erim (30 November 1912 – 19 July 1980) was a Turkish politician and jurist. He served as the 13th prime minister of Turkey for almost 14 months after the 1971 Turkish military memorandum. He was assassinated by the Revolutionary ...

* 19 July 1980:

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

of Turkey in 1971-1972, for almost 14 months. Shot to death by two gunmen in

. Radical leftist militant group Dev Sol (Revolutionary Left) claimed responsibility for the attack.

Kemal Türkler

* 22 July 1980: Socialist

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

leader and left-wing politician. Murdered in front of his home by ultra-right militants.

Şarık Arıyak

*17 December 1980: Turkish chief consul in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. Killed together with his bodyguard Engin Sever. The Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide claimed responsibility.

Kemal Arıkan Kemal Arıkan (1927–1982) was a Turkish diplomat assassinated by two US citizens of Armenian origin in Los Angeles, United States. Early life He was born on 1927 in İskilip, Çorum Province. After completing his education at Ankara Univers ...

*28 January 1982: Turkish diplomat Kemal Arıkan shot to death by two gunmen of

origin in Los Angeles.

Atilla Altıkat

* 23 August 1982: Turkish military attaché in

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 ...

. Assassinated in his car while driving 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 ...

by the

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 ...

Esat Oktay Yıldıran Esat Oktay Yıldıran (15 February 1949 – 22 October 1988) was a Turkish military officer who was appointed governor of the Diyarbakır Prison after the 1980 Turkish coup d'état. During the PKK insurgency, Yıldıran became known for his extens ...

* 22 October 1988: Military officer and former internal security chief of Diyarbakır Prison. Shot dead in a public bus in Istanbul by a PKK militant.

1990s

Muammer Aksoy Muammer Aksoy (1917 – January 31, 1990) was a Turkish lawyer, politician, columnist and intellectual who was assassinated. Biography Aksoy was born 1917 in İbradı, Konya vilayet (now Antalya Province) to the member of the Ottoman parliame ...

* 31 January 1990: Professor of law at

Ankara University Ankara University () is a public university, public research university in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. It was the first higher education institution founded in Turkey after the History of the Republic of Turkey, formation of the Turkish republ ...

, Faculty of

Political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

; author of books on

Kemalism Kemalism (, also archaically ''Kamâlizm'') or Atatürkism () is a political ideology based on the ideas of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey.Eric J. Zurcher, Turkey: A Modern History. New York, ...

; elected head of the Ankara Bar Association 1969, columnist of the newspaper ''

''. Shot in the back of his head in front of his house.

Çetin Emeç

* 7 March 1990: Journalist, editor-in-chief and chief columnist of the liberal rightist daily ''

Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is a major List of newspapers in Turkey, Turkish newspaper, founded in 1948. it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' combines entertainment with news coverage and ...

''. Shot to death in front of his house. Case remains unresolved.

Turan Dursun

* 4 September 1990: Former member of Islamic clergy who became a critic of Islam and advocate of atheism. Shot to death in front of his house. Case remains unresolved.

Bahriye Üçok Bahriye Üçok (1919 – 6 October 1990) was a Turkish people, Turkish academic of theology, left-wing politician, writer, columnist, and women's rights activist whose assassination in 1990 remains unresolved. Early life and education Born in ...

* 6 October 1990: Female academic, pro-secular theologist, columnist of the newspaper ''

''. Killed by a

parcel bomb A letter bomb is an explosive device sent via the mail, postal service, and designed with the intention to injure or kill the recipient when opened. They have been used in terrorism, terrorist attacks such as those of the Theodore Kaczynski, U ...

Hulusi Sayın

* 30 January 1991: Retired lieutenant general. Shot dead in front of his house. Claimed by Dev-Sol.

Memduh Ünlütürk

* 7 April 1991: Retired general. Shot dead at his house by Dev-Sol.

Kemal Kayacan

* 29 July 1992: Admiral (retired), former commander of the

Turkish Navy The Turkish Naval Forces (), or Turkish Navy (), is the naval warfare service branch of the TAF. The modern naval traditions and customs of the Turkish Navy can be traced back to 10 July 1920, when it was established as the ''Directorate o ...

. Shot dead in his house.

Musa Anter Musa Anter (1920 – 20 September 1992), also known as "Apê Musa" (, literally "Uncle Musa"), was a Kurdish writer, journalist and intellectual. Anter was assassinated by Turkish JITEM in September 1992. Early life and education He was born i ...

*1992: Kurdish writer, assassinated in

Diyarbakır Diyarbakır is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, it is ...

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

fined Turkey for this assassination, allegedly committed by

JITEM Jandarma İstihbarat ve Terörle Mücadele or Jandarma İstihbarat Teşkilatı (abbr. ''JİTEM'' or ''JİT''; English: "Gendarmerie Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism" or "Gendarmerie Intelligence Organization") is the intelligence department of ...

illegal gendarmerie unit.

Zübeyir Akkoç

* 13 January 1993: Union member of

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 ...

origin. His murder led to the

case ''

Akkoç v. Turkey ''Akkoç v. Turkey'' 2000, Nos. 22947 & 8/93, ECHR 2000-X, was a decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on the extent of the right to life. The case involved the Kurd Zübeyir Akkoç in Turkey who belonged to an outlawed trade union ...

'' (2000).

Uğur Mumcu Uğur Mumcu (; 22 August 1942 – 24 January 1993)
um:ag was a

* 24 January 1993: Research journalist, columnist of the major newspaper ''

''. Killed in front of his home in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

by a bomb installed in his car.

Cem Ersever Ahmet Cem Ersever (1950 – 4 November 1993) was a commander in the Turkish Gendarmerie, and said to be one of the founders of the Gendarmerie's JITEM intelligence unit. He was assassinated in November 1993. is a retired Turkish brigadier-genera ...

* 4 November 1993: ex-

commander who had begun speaking to the press.

Onat Kutlar Onat Kutlar (25 January 1936 – 11 January 1995) was a prominent Turkish writer and poet, founder of the Turkish Sinematek and cofounder of the Istanbul International Film Festival. Biography Onat Kutlar was born in Alanya, Turkey, on 25 J ...

* 11 January 1995: prominent art critic, writer, poet, columnist for the daily ''

'' and one of the founders of the

Istanbul International Film Festival The Istanbul Film Festival () is the first and oldest international film festival in Turkey, organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts. It is held every year in April in movie theaters in Istanbul, Turkey. As mentioned in its reg ...

, died of injuries he suffered during a bomb attack perpetrated by PKK at a hotel in

Metin Göktepe Metin Göktepe (; April 10, 1968 – January 8, 1996) was a Kurdish photojournalist who was tortured and murdered in police custody in Istanbul on January 8, 1996. Life Metin Göktepe was born to a Kurdish family in Sivas on April 10, 1968, in ...

* 8 January 1996: , a left wing journalist of

Evrensel ''Evrensel'' () is a Turkish daily newspaper. History and profile ''Evrensel'' was founded on 7 June 1995. The issues captured and written are from a socialist perspective. The paper is different from other Turkish newspapers in that it present ...

was beaten to death by Turkish police while covering civil unrest in the Gazi district of Istanbul. The first case in Turkey where the police were convicted of murder.

Özdemir Sabancı Özdemir Sabancı (1941 – January 9, 1996) was a Turkish businessman and a second generation member of the Sabancı family. Biography He was born in Adana, Turkey. After finishing high school at the Tarsus American College in Tarsus, provinc ...

* 9 January 1996: Businessman and a member of the

Sabancı family The Sabancı family is one of the wealthiest families in Turkey. The family's main business entity was founded by Hacı Ömer Sabancı in the 1930s. Hacı Ömer Sabancı, the progenitor of the Sabancı family, moved from his native Kayseri to Ada ...

in the second generation. Gunned down in his office in Sabancı Towers,

Levent Levent is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Beşiktaş, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 2,911 (2022). It is one of the main business districts of Istanbul located on the European side of the city. It is situated ...

, Istanbul, by assassins hired by the leftist armed group DHKP-C. The general manager of ToyotaSA and a secretary was also killed. They had been given access to the building by

Fehriye Erdal Fehriye Erdal (born 25 February 1977) is a Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front militant. She was one of the three DHKP-C members involved in the assassination of Turkish businessman Özdemir Sabancı and two of his employees on 9 Ja ...

, a female member of DHKP-C, who was an employee at that time.

Ahmet Taner Kışlalı Ahmet Taner Kışlalı (10 July 1939 – 21 October 1999) was a Turkish professor, politician, and commentator. He served in the Parliament of Turkey in 1977 and was minister of culture in 1978 and 1979. Biography Kışlalı completed his pri ...

* 21 October 1999: Academic, writer. politician, former Minister of Culture and columnist of the newspaper ''

''. Killed in

by a bomb placed on the windshield of his car.

2000s

Gaffar Okkan

* 24 January 2001:

Police Chief, his driver and four policemen escorting him were shot dead in an attack after they left Diyarbakır Police Department building. Radical Islamic group known as Kurdish Hezbollah was suspected.

Üzeyir Garih Üzeyir Garih (1929 – August 25, 2001) was a Jewish Turkish engineer, businessman, writer and investor. Early years Üzeyir Garih was born in İstanbul on 28 June 1929. He graduated from Istanbul Technical University ranking in the Dean's Hono ...

* 25 August 2001: A prominent Turkish Jewish businessman and a founding partner of the Alarko group of companies. He was stabbed to death in the cemetery of the historic

quarter of Eyüp.

Necip Hablemitoğlu Necip Hablemitoğlu (28 November 1954 – 18 December 2002) was a Turkish historian and intellectual. He was assassinated in front of his home in 2002. The perpetrators of this assassination have still not been found. In Ergenekon trial testimo ...

* 18 December 2002: A Kemalist historian from ''

'' who was killed in an armed attack near his home in Ankara.

Andrea Santoro

* 5 February 2006: Father Andrea Santoro was a Roman Catholic priest, murdered in the Santa Maria Church in

Trabzon Trabzon, historically known as Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. The city was founded in 756 BC as "Trapezous" by colonists from Miletus. It was added into the Achaemenid E ...

where he served as a member of the Catholic Church's Fidei donum missionary program. On 5 September 2006 he was shot dead from behind while kneeling in prayer in the church. A witness heard the perpetrator shouting "Allahu Akbar". A 16-year-old high school student was arrested two days after the shooting carrying a 9mm pistol. An investigation by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations on stolen weaponry in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

revealed that the gun was of the same type used in the supposedly Islamist attack on the

Turkish Council of State The Council of State () is the highest administrative court in the Republic of Turkey and is located in Ankara. Its role and tasks are prescribed by the Constitution of Turkey within the articles on the supreme courts. According to Article 155 o ...

in 2006.

Mustafa Yücel Özbilgin

* 17 May 2006: Council of State member judge. Murdered during a session in the high court in

Hrant Dink Hrant Dink (; Western ; 15 September 1954 – 19 January 2007) was a Turkish-Armenian intellectual, editor-in-chief of ''Agos'', journalist, and columnist. As editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper ''Agos'', Dink was a ...

* 19 January 2007:

Armenian-Turkish Armenians in Turkey (; or , ), one of the indigenous peoples of Turkey, have an estimated population of 40,000 to 50,000 today, down from a population of over 2 million Armenians between the years 1914 and 1921. Today, the overwhelming majority ...

journalist and editor-in-chief of the weekly Armenian and Turkish language newspaper ''

Agos ''Agos'' (in Armenian: Ակօս, " furrow") is a bilingual weekly newspaper published in Istanbul, Turkey, established on 25 February 1996 by Hrant Dink, Luiz Bakar, Harutyun Şeşetyan, and Anna Turay. ''Agos'' has both Armenian and Turki ...

'' in

. Shot dead in front of his newspaper's office.

Necati Aydın, Uğur Yüksel and Tilman Geske

*18 April 2007. Three Christian leaders assassinated, two Turkish Pastors and a German missionary.

İhya Balak ( tr)

*16 November 2007. Director of '' Milli Piyango'', the Turkish National Lottery, was assassinated in his office by an ex-inspector of his directorate.

Ahmet Yıldız

*July 2008: "the victim of what sociologists say is the first gay

honor killing An honor killing (American English), ''honour killing'' (Commonwealth English), or ''shame killing'' is a type of murder in which a person, usually a woman or girl, is killed by or at the behest of male members of their family or their male ...

in Turkey to surface publicly".

Cihan Hayırsevener Cihan may refer to: Name Given name Cihan Alptekin (1947–1972), Turkish revolutionary and militant Cihan Can, Turkish footballer Cihan Haspolatlı, Turkish footballer Cihan Kaptan, Turkish footballer *Cihan Özkara, Turkish-German football ...

19 December 2009: founder and editor of the daily ''Güney Marmara’da Yaşam'', was shot in a street in

Bandırma Bandırma ()Greek: Panormos(Πανορμος)is a municipality and district of Balıkesir Province, northwestern Turkey. Its area is 755 km2, and its population is 167,363 (2024). Bandırma is located in the south of the Marmara Sea, in the ...

Balıkesir Province Balıkesir Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in northwestern Turkey with coastlines on both the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean Sea, Aegean. Its area is 14,583 km ...

and died later that day at a hospital in

Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

. He had reported on corruption charges involving the owners of ''İlkhaber'', another daily in the town.

Andrei Karlov Andrei Gennadyevich Karlov (; 4 February 1954 – 19 December 2016) was a Russian diplomat who served as the List of ambassadors of Russia to Turkey, Russian ambassador to Turkey and earlier as the Russian Russian Ambassador to North Korea, amb ...

19 December 2016:

Andrei Karlov Andrei Gennadyevich Karlov (; 4 February 1954 – 19 December 2016) was a Russian diplomat who served as the List of ambassadors of Russia to Turkey, Russian ambassador to Turkey and earlier as the Russian Russian Ambassador to North Korea, amb ...

, the

Russian Ambassador This is a list of diplomatic missions of Russia. These missions are subordinate to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia), Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Russia, Russian Federation has one of the largest networks of embassies and cons ...

, was

assassinated Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

by Mevlüt Mert Altıntaş, an off-duty Turkish police officer, at an art exhibition in

Ankara, Turkey Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( Etimesgut, Yenimahalle, Çankaya, Keçiören, Altında ...

Sinan Ateş

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Assassinated people from Turkey Lists of Turkish people

Assassinated people

Mustafa Suphi Mustafa Suphi or Mustafa Subhi (1883 – 28 January 1921) was a Turkish revolutionary and communist during the period of dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. Early life Suphi was born in 1883 in Giresun Province, in the Ottoman Empire, now lo ...

Sabahattin Ali Sabahattin Ali (25 February 1907 – 2 April 1948) was a Turkish people, Turkish novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. Early life He was born in 1907 in Ardino, Eğridere township (now Ardino in southern Bulgaria) of the San ...

1970s

Mehmet Baydar and Bahadır Demir Bahadır is a common masculine Turkish name, Turkish given name. In Turkish, "Bahadır" means "brave", "galahad", "hero", "valiant", and/or "gallant". This name is written with a dotless ı. It appears as BAHADIR in uppercase and bahadır in low ...

Daniş Tunalıgil Hüseyin Daniş Tunalıgil (1915 – 22 October 1975) was a Turkish diplomat. He was assassinated by JCAG in 1975 during his duty as the Turkish ambassador to Austria. Life and career Tunalıgil was born in Ankara, Turkey in 1915. He graduated f ...

Bedrettin Cömert ( tr)

Doğan Öz Doğan Öz (1934 – 24 March 1978) was a Turkish prosecutor. He was assassinated in 1978 while investigating the Turkish deep state. In 1978 he wrote a report for Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit accusing clandestine groups of creating chaos in order ...

Bedri Karafakıoğlu Bedri Karafakioğlu (23 October 1915 – 20 October 1978) was a Turkish assassinated academic and former rector of Istanbul Technical University Early life He was born in Çorum on 29 October 1915. His father Süheyl Rumi was a civil servant ...

Abdi İpekçi Abdi İpekçi (9 August 1929 – 1 February 1979) was a Turkish journalist, intellectual and human rights activist. He was murdered when he was editor-in-chief of one of the main Turkish daily newspapers '' Milliyet'' which then had a cent ...

Metin Yüksel Metin Yüksel (July 17, 1958 – February 23, 1979) was a Kurdish-Turkish political and social Islamist activist. One of the main leaders of Turkey's Islamic movement during the 1970s, he also was a member of the Raiders Organization. Early ...

Ahmet Benler

İlhan Egemen Darendelioğlu

Cavit Orhan Tütengil Cavit Orhan Tütengil (1921 – December 7, 1979) was a Turkish sociologist, writer and columnist, who was assassinated. Biography He was born in Sebil, a village of Tarsus, in Mersin province of what was then the Ottoman Empire. Following ...

1980s

Ümit Kaftancıoğlu Ümit Kaftancıoğlu (1935 – 11 April 1980) was a Turkish TV producer, writer and columnist of the newspaper ''Cumhuriyet''. Life and career Kaftancıoğlu was born in Saskara village, Hanak, Ardahan Province. He graduated from Cilavuz Villa ...

Gün Sazak Gün Sazak (26 March 1932 – 27 May 1980) was a Turkish nationalist politician and former government minister of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). He was assassinated by the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front after his police g ...

Nihat Erim İsmail Nihat Erim (30 November 1912 – 19 July 1980) was a Turkish politician and jurist. He served as the 13th prime minister of Turkey for almost 14 months after the 1971 Turkish military memorandum. He was assassinated by the Revolutionary ...

Kemal Arıkan Kemal Arıkan (1927–1982) was a Turkish diplomat assassinated by two US citizens of Armenian origin in Los Angeles, United States. Early life He was born on 1927 in İskilip, Çorum Province. After completing his education at Ankara Univers ...

Esat Oktay Yıldıran Esat Oktay Yıldıran (15 February 1949 – 22 October 1988) was a Turkish military officer who was appointed governor of the Diyarbakır Prison after the 1980 Turkish coup d'état. During the PKK insurgency, Yıldıran became known for his extens ...

1990s

Muammer Aksoy Muammer Aksoy (1917 – January 31, 1990) was a Turkish lawyer, politician, columnist and intellectual who was assassinated. Biography Aksoy was born 1917 in İbradı, Konya vilayet (now Antalya Province) to the member of the Ottoman parliame ...

Bahriye Üçok Bahriye Üçok (1919 – 6 October 1990) was a Turkish people, Turkish academic of theology, left-wing politician, writer, columnist, and women's rights activist whose assassination in 1990 remains unresolved. Early life and education Born in ...

Musa Anter Musa Anter (1920 – 20 September 1992), also known as "Apê Musa" (, literally "Uncle Musa"), was a Kurdish writer, journalist and intellectual. Anter was assassinated by Turkish JITEM in September 1992. Early life and education He was born i ...

Uğur Mumcu Uğur Mumcu (; 22 August 1942 – 24 January 1993) um:ag was a

Cem Ersever Ahmet Cem Ersever (1950 – 4 November 1993) was a commander in the Turkish Gendarmerie, and said to be one of the founders of the Gendarmerie's JITEM intelligence unit. He was assassinated in November 1993. is a retired Turkish brigadier-genera ...

Onat Kutlar Onat Kutlar (25 January 1936 – 11 January 1995) was a prominent Turkish writer and poet, founder of the Turkish Sinematek and cofounder of the Istanbul International Film Festival. Biography Onat Kutlar was born in Alanya, Turkey, on 25 J ...

Metin Göktepe Metin Göktepe (; April 10, 1968 – January 8, 1996) was a Kurdish photojournalist who was tortured and murdered in police custody in Istanbul on January 8, 1996. Life Metin Göktepe was born to a Kurdish family in Sivas on April 10, 1968, in ...

Özdemir Sabancı Özdemir Sabancı (1941 – January 9, 1996) was a Turkish businessman and a second generation member of the Sabancı family. Biography He was born in Adana, Turkey. After finishing high school at the Tarsus American College in Tarsus, provinc ...

Ahmet Taner Kışlalı Ahmet Taner Kışlalı (10 July 1939 – 21 October 1999) was a Turkish professor, politician, and commentator. He served in the Parliament of Turkey in 1977 and was minister of culture in 1978 and 1979. Biography Kışlalı completed his pri ...

2000s

Üzeyir Garih Üzeyir Garih (1929 – August 25, 2001) was a Jewish Turkish engineer, businessman, writer and investor. Early years Üzeyir Garih was born in İstanbul on 28 June 1929. He graduated from Istanbul Technical University ranking in the Dean's Hono ...

Necip Hablemitoğlu Necip Hablemitoğlu (28 November 1954 – 18 December 2002) was a Turkish historian and intellectual. He was assassinated in front of his home in 2002. The perpetrators of this assassination have still not been found. In Ergenekon trial testimo ...

Hrant Dink Hrant Dink (; Western ; 15 September 1954 – 19 January 2007) was a Turkish-Armenian intellectual, editor-in-chief of ''Agos'', journalist, and columnist. As editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper ''Agos'', Dink was a ...

İhya Balak ( tr)

Cihan Hayırsevener Cihan may refer to: Name Given name *Cihan Alptekin (1947–1972), Turkish revolutionary and militant *Cihan Can, Turkish footballer *Cihan Haspolatlı, Turkish footballer *Cihan Kaptan, Turkish footballer *Cihan Özkara, Turkish-German football ...

Andrei Karlov Andrei Gennadyevich Karlov (; 4 February 1954 – 19 December 2016) was a Russian diplomat who served as the List of ambassadors of Russia to Turkey, Russian ambassador to Turkey and earlier as the Russian Russian Ambassador to North Korea, amb ...

See also

References

Mehmet Baydar and
Bahadır Demir Bahadır is a common masculine Turkish name, Turkish given name. In Turkish, "Bahadır" means "brave", "galahad", "hero", "valiant", and/or "gallant". This name is written with a dotless ı. It appears as BAHADIR in uppercase and bahadır in low ...

Uğur Mumcu Uğur Mumcu (; 22 August 1942 – 24 January 1993)
um:ag was a

Cihan Hayırsevener Cihan may refer to: Name Given name Cihan Alptekin (1947–1972), Turkish revolutionary and militant Cihan Can, Turkish footballer Cihan Haspolatlı, Turkish footballer Cihan Kaptan, Turkish footballer *Cihan Özkara, Turkish-German football ...