Foreign Ministry welcomes US court decision denying release of Turkish diplomat's killer

ANKARA - Anadolu Agency

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has welcomed the decision of a U.S. court to deny a probation request by Hampig Sassounian, who had been convicted for the 1982 murder of Los Angeles Consul General Kemal Arıkan.

Two similar requests were denied in 2006 and 2010.

"The refusal of terrorist Sassounian's release request is an accurate decision in terms of justice and the principles of the fight against terrorism, and has been welcomed," a Foreign Ministry statement issued today said.

"We commemorate once again our martyred diplomat," the statement added.

Sassounian was a member of the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) which operated from the beginning of the 1970s until the 1990s and targeted Turkish diplomats in the U.S. and the European countries.