Seta Demirici, whose husband Hagop was killed during the attack, being taken to the hospital
BY ARA KHACHATOURIAN
When an elderly Armenian couple was found hogtied in an apartment in Istanbul on Saturday, resulting in the death of one of them, there was speculation—including from this publication—that it was a hate crime against Armenians.
On February 6, Hagop Yakup Demirci, an 85-year-old Armenian man living in Istanbul’s Şişli district with his wife, Seta Ayda Demirci, 79, was found dead after burglars left the elderly Armenian couple hogtied inside their apartment, from which the burglars stole 100,000 Turkish liras (around $35,000). The body of Demirci was retrieved from the apartment located in Şişli’s Harbiye neighborhood with a ladder from the fire department, according to Hurriyet Daily Newspaper.
On Thursday, Istanbul authorities announced that eight suspects were apprehended and all of them were Armenian.
A special team formed by several officers from the homicide bureau of the Istanbul Police Department Public Order Unit captured three of the suspects, one of whom has been a servant for the Armenian couple, in the Black Sea province of Trabzon late Feb. 9 while five other suspects, who were reported to have helped commit the burglary, were captured in Istanbul on the same day. All eight of the suspects, five women and three men, were revealed to be Armenians upon a police investigation, reported Hurriyet.
On Thursday, Armenia’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that the suspects were from Armenia, saying, however, “Opportunities to provide consular assistance are restricted because of the lack of diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey.â€
