Central Square Bomb Blast Hits Turkish Consul Store

An Armenian nationalist organization claimed responsibility last night for what Cambridge police said appeared to be the bombing of the office and adjacent store of the Turkish honorary consul general in Central Square.

There were no injuries from the blast, police said, but the storefront of Topekapi Imports, located on the corner of Western Avenue and Mass. Ave. was ripped apart, shattering glass and smashing a stone facade.

The explosion occurred at 8:05 p.m. a Cambridge police spokesman said, and about 15 minutes later, the United Press International office in New York City received a telephone call from an individual claiming to represent the Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide.

In a barely audible 30-second taped message, a woman speaker said that the justice Commandos were responsible for the blast, a spokesman for the UPI Boston bureau said. He added that it was nearly impossible to understand any of the garbled telephone call.

In January the Justice Commandos claimed responsibility for the shooting death of the Turkish consul general in Los Angeles.

New England Honorary General Orhan Ganduz, who owns the Central Square Store that was damaged last night, and who maintains an office in the rear of the building, refused comment through a spokesman.

According to Cambridge police, representatives of the FBI and the state police bomb squad began working on the case last night.

Bomb squad experts speculated that the blast may have been caused by a small "pipe-bomb," said Cambridge Sgt. Irwin Nolan. He added that with a pipe-type bomb, gun-powder is placed inside a metal cylinder and left with a detonating device at the site of the planned explosion.

Ferdi Gunduz said that his father left the Central Square building at about 5:30 p.m. two-and-a-half hours before the blast.

Threats

"We've always had threats," said Ferdi Gunduz, whose father has served as honorary consul for about a decade. "It's something that has been very steady," he added.

One motorist who said he was passing the store at the time of the blast said he heard what sounded like a cannon. "I heard it and didn't see it until I turned around," said the motorist, who declined to be identified. "It took only a few seconds and a crowd built up," he added.

Another man said he heard the explosion four blocks away on Lee street and it was still "quite load."