Gourgen Yanikian ( , December 24 , 1895 , Erzurum , Ottoman Armenia - March 27 , 1984 , USA ) was an Armenian author and engineer who killed two Turkish consular officials in California in 1973 . Kourken Mkrtich ( Megerdich ) Yanikian ( , December 24 , 1895 , Erzurum , Ottoman Empire - March 27 , 1984 , USA ) was an American-Armenian author , engineer and an Armenian Genocide survivor who assassinated two Turkish consular officials ( Los Angeles Consul general Mehmet Baydar and Consul BahadÄ r Demir ) in California in 1973 .