Square in French City of Marseille to be Named after Soghomon Tehlirian, who Assassinated Turkish Talaat Pasha

• 04.14.2017, 15:59
•  Europe,  World,  Diaspora

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In a ceremony on April 21 a square in the French city of Marseille will be officially named after Soghomon Tehlirian—the Armenian who assassinated the former Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, Talaat Pasha, in Berlin on March 15, 1921.

Marseille Mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin, several public and political figures, as well as representatives of the French Armenian community will participate in the ceremony.

The event is organized jointly by the Marseille municipality and the Coordination Council of Armenian Organizations in France (CCAF), Armenian Weekly reports.

In June 1915, during the deportation of Erzincan Armenians, Tehlirian witnessed the murder of his mother and brother, along with the rape and murder of his three sisters. He was struck on the head and left for dead. He survived and escaped to Tiflis, where he joined the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF).

In 1921 he was assigned to the ARF’s Operation Nemesis, which sought to punish Turkish officials guilty of organizing and carrying out the Armenian Genocide.

Tehlirian’s main target was Talaat Pasha. Talaat was killed by Tehlirian with a single bullet on the morning of March 15, 1921, in Berlin, in broad daylight. Tehlirian did not flee the scene and was immediately arrested.

He was tried for murder but was exonerated by the German court.