On June 10, 2014, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Naci Koru participated in the opening ceremony of the “Lisbon Street” in Ankara. Ambassador of Portugal, Jorge Cabral and Acting Mayor of Ankara, Ali Gökşin attended the ceremony as well.

Deputy Foreign Minister Koru, speaking at the ceremony noted that Turkey and Portugal enjoy excellent relations as two friendly and ally countries and the bilateral relations gained a considerable momentum in recent years. He pointed out that the “Lisbon Street” will be the symbol of the friendship between Turkey and Portugal.

Recalling that in the heinous attacks perpetrated by Armenian terrorist organizations against Turkish diplomats in 1970s and 1980s, officials of the Turkish Embassy in Lisbon also lost their lives, Deputy Foreign Minister Koru stated that in 2013 Oreiras Municipality in Lisbon opened a monument to commemorate those Turkish diplomats and therefore it was decided to name this street as the “Lisbon Street” with a view to expressing gratitude to Portuguese Government and Portuguese people for their sympathy.

In Lisbon two separate attacks were perpetrated by Armenian terrorist groups in 1982 and 1983 and three officials of the Turkish Embassy in Lisbon and a Portuguese police officer lost their lives. Within the framework of our efforts to commemorate our martyrs who lost their lives in Armenian terror acts, a monument in the memory of our martyrs Erkut Akbay and his wife Nadide Akbay was opened in the Linda-a-Velha neighborhood of Lisbon in 2013. The monument is dedicated to all Turkish diplomats and officials who lost their lives abroad in Armenian terror acts.