Sevag Şahin Balıkçı ( April 1 , 1986 – April 24 , 2011 ) was a Turkish soldier of Armenian descent who was shot to death during compulsory military service . The incident occurred on April 24 , 2011 , the remembrance day of the Armenian Genocide . The perpetrator Kıvanç Ağaoglu was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for involuntary manslaughter . However , there have been several eye-witness accounts and testimonies that claim that the shooting was not accidental as the official reports suggest , but intentional . Other reports claim that the shooting was a hate crime towards Balıkçı 's Armenian identity
Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
Murder of Sevag Balıkçı