Elderly Armenian couple attacked in Istanbul home, husband dead

PanARMENIAN.Net - An elderly Armenian couple in Istanbul were victims of a home invasion robbery, but the manner in which they were found indicates that they were targeted because they were Armenian, according to Asbarez.

Seta Demirci, 79, and her husband Hagop, 85, were discovered in their apartment gagged and tied by pig skin rope, an act usually “reserved for infidels,” as Armenians are often referred to in Turkey. Hagop Demirci was pronounced dead due to strangulation, while Seta Demirci was rushed to the hospital, Asbarez says, citing a report by the T24 news site, which covered the incident in Turkish.

The site reported that the couple’s housekeeper, knocking on the door and not receiving a response, alerted their nephew, who lives nearby, and who opened the apartment door to find the two bound and gagged and their valuables stolen. The couple’s apartment is located near Gezi Park in Istanbul.

Elderly Armenians have been a target of violence in Istanbul and the surrounding suburbs recently.