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Part of a global campaign that kept ASIO and police on edge for at least seven years. It remains the most prominent unsolved terrorist attack on Australian soil. Despite four decades on, those with the knowledge of perpetrators remain silent. A one million dollar reward is on offer, with the suspects and their accomplices believed to be still living somewhere in the country. We are now piecing together publicly available information and more to produce a true-crime podcast.
In 2019, NSW Police reopened the 1980 Sydney murder case of Turkish Consul General, Mr Şarık Arıyak, and Engin Sever with a renewed reward of $1 million for any information that would help them prosecute and convict the alleged perpetrators. Three years later, the investigation is still ongoing.
Initial theories suggested that the gunmen had flown in from overseas, carried out the attack and immediately left the country after the job was done.
ASIO, in 1983 stopped another attack involving some of the main suspects of the murders when they intercepted a shipment of guns from Los Angeles.
In 1986, a bomb prematurely went off in the car park of the Turkish consulate general in Melbourne, killing the perpetrator. One of the main suspects of the 1980 murder was convicted and served ten years in jail in connection with this terror attack.
Recently, the National Archives has made hundreds of pages of never-before-seen documents available for us to view.
Within the archives are agent reports, comments, wiretaps, interview briefs with suspects, and internal task force communications that highlight a deeply connected, tight-knit group "united in their hatred towards Turks" that remained beyond the reach of the investigating agents. These documents also name many suspects.
Why Podcast?
We do not intend to run a parallel investigation. Still, we believe the time has come to piece together the details of this hate crime and subsequent investigations in Australia to provide a clearer picture for the public to find out what happened.
We have identified numerous sources besides the archive materials, including media articles. We intend to weave all these into an exciting narrative to appeal to true crime investigators across the globe.
We aim to produce and release the first of three podcast episodes this year on 17 December to coincide with the 42nd anniversary of the assassinations.
The podcast will be produced with True Crime News Weekly:
We have agreed to jointly produce this work with the popular Australian independent news outlet, True Crime News Weekly. We will utilise their editorial and production capabilities to weave this story into content for all true crime fans to enjoy. A diverse team of journalists, researchers and editors from multiple backgrounds and perspectives will work on the podcast.
True Crime News Weekly is an Australian subscriber news website published by PR 4 THE PPL PTY LTD. Launched in 2017, it covers breaking crime news, politics, media, opinion, culture reviews, and true historical crime. It has been cited in Australia for its exclusives and investigations into political and corruption scandals. True Crime News Weekly was also recognised for breaking the notorious 'Barnaby Joyce Scandal' that resulted in then-Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce being forced to resign as National Party leader in early 2018.
Your Support Is Needed:
Hundreds of hours of work have already been put into our research. To progress it further, we need to sift through thousands of pages of documents, along with archive images, videos and voice recordings, and analyse them. We will also need to travel for interviews, submit several FOI requests, and engage with legal professionals to ensure we are doing everything right.
The project requires an initial $10,000 to:
1. Hire space for the team to work in
2. Hire a research producer to collate all documents and vet these documents for the editorial team
3. Engage with legal representatives for advice, power of attorney and document access
4. Make several FOI requests to gain access to additional crucial information
5. Draft creatives and episode scripts
Donors will receive early exclusive access to episodes.
Although this is a not-for-profit project, in the case of any profit made through resale or licensing of usage rights, proceeds will be forwarded to charities working to eliminate hate crimes from our society.
About Me:
I have worked for over 15 years in the newsrooms of globally reputable news outlets, holding positions at different levels. Since 2016, I have been involved in various activities within the Turkish community in Australia.
I have also had the opportunity to meet with the relatives of Mr Ariyak and Mr Sever in recent years, forming friendships with them.
I respect the work done by police and authorities in this unsolved case. This project aims to investigate and compile the details of these murders for the public record.
Thank you all.
A.
Organizer
Baris Atayman
Organizer
Haymarket, NSW