Two Armenian gunmen opened fire with small firearms[2] at the ambassador's car, which stopped for a red light at a major downtown intersection in Belgrade.
"[2] Galip Balkar died on 11 March[5] in the neurosurgical clinic in Belgrade where he was in critical condition after emergency surgery for two bullet wounds one in the head, the other through the right shoulder to the spine.
Prime minister of Yugoslavia Milka Planinc and Foreign Secretary Lazar Mojsov also sent messages of condolence to their Turkish counterparts.
"[7] The Belgrade Public Prosecutor charged Harutyun Krikor Levonian (23) and Rafi Alexander Elbekian (21), of Beirut, with assassination of Balkar and attempt to kill Kaya Necet.
In addition to this, the bill of indictment charged Levonian with having, after the assassination of the Turkish ambassador, tried to kill retired Colonel of the Yugoslav People's Army Brajović, who was blocking his escape.
As the first accused, Levonian, was in a special health condition as a consequence of his wound and that Elbekian was a junior adult, the two were not sentenced to death.
Stojan Miletić, Deputy Public Prosecutor of SR Serbia, stressed that the harshness of the sentences corresponded to the gravity of the criminal acts.
[8] According to a statement from the "Central Committee of Solidarity with Armenian Prisoners" in Athens, Harutyun Levonian was released by the Yugoslav authorities in June 1987.