ARMENIAN - Erevangala500

idge to the Gulf) and the Bosporus (as a gateway to the
Mediterranean).
In spite o f the mass deportations o f Armenians to Inner
Asia under Stalin, the Armenian intellectuals have for the
most part managed quite well under the Soviet system.
The careers o f such men as Anastas Mikoyan and Yuri
Andropov, who rose to become Soviet head o f state, are
striking proof o f this.
The countless other terrorist groups which appear in the
lists o f crimes committed are nothing more than alternate
acronyms for the "big two", which take on new names at
will. They do this partly to fool the public about their true
size and partly to satisfy the vanity o f members who want
to lead a "new" terrorist group.
The public should not let itself be fooled by occasional
quarrels and jealousies (when, for example, JC A G and
ASA LA have to fight it out to determine who killed
whom when and where). In this bizarre world o f shadows
and mirrors, unfair competition is just part o f the whole
unfair bloody trade. In the end there is only one goal: terror
for terror's sake.
A s b a r e z , S a t u r d a y . O c t o b e r 15, 1983 3
H am p ig Sassounian and the Resurgence
of the Indomitable A rm enian Spirit
"I b e o v e r w h e lm in g re s p o n s e lo a c a ll fo r h e lp b y th e S a s s o u n ia n D e fe n s e
C o m m itte e is a n u n e q u iv o c a l m a n ife s ta tio n o f th e v ita lity a n d th e s tie n g th
o f c h a ra c te r a n d p u rp o s e o f th e A rm e n ia n p e o p le .
T h e y h a v e d e m o n s tra te d a tre m e n d o u s c o h e s iv e n e s s o f s p irit a n d a w illin
g n e s s to b e c o m e p o litic a lly in v o lv e d b y s u p p o r tin g th e d e fe n s e o f o n e
H a m p ig S a s s o u n ia n , a 7 0 -y e a r-o ld A rm e n ia n a c c u s e d o f a s s a s s in a tin g
K e m a l A rik a n , th e la te l u ik is h C o n s u l G e n e ra l o f L o s A n g e le s , o n J a n u a ry
28, 1987.
D u rin g th e p a s t tw e n ty tw o m o n th s , lite ra lly te n s o f th o u s a n d s o f A r m e ­
n ia n s h a v e s h o w n th e ir in tn ie s t a n d c o n c e rn . A rm e n ia n s in L o s A n g e le s a n d
a n o th e r c itie s th r o u g h o u t th is c o u n try , C a n a d a , F ra n c e , L e b a n o n , E n g la n d ,
G re e c e , S y ria / Isra e l, S a u d i A ra b ia , Ira n , S o u th A fr ic a , A rg e n tin a ,
A u s tra lia , Ita ly , S w itz e rla n d , S p a in , a n d E g y p t h a v e ra llie d to s u p p o rt S as-
' s o u n ia n ’s d e fe n s e .
T h is o u tp o u rin g o f m o n ie s a n d p e rs o n a l a n d c o lle c tiv e m e s s a g e s o f s u p ­
p o r t is in d e e d th e b e s t m e a s u re o f a p e o p le in v o lv e d in a p o litic a l p ro c e s s
w h ic h u ltim a te ly c o u ld d e te rm in e th e ir d e s tin y .
Гог m o n th s A rm e n ia n s h a v e s to o d film , u n a b a s h e d b y th e h a rra s s m e n t
o f la w e n fo rc e m e n t a g e n c ie s , u n s h a k e n b y th e d is to rtio n s a n d p re v a ric a ­
tio n s o f th e T u rk is h g o v e rn m e n t's p ro p a g a n d a m a c h in e a n d th e b a ira g e o f
m is re p re s e n ta tio n s o f o u r c o m m u n ity a n d its g o a ls in th e m e d ia .
W ith S a s s o u n ia n 's tria l a lre a d y it» its in itia l s ta g e s , w h a t h a v e w e le a rn e d
a b o u t o u rs e lv e s as a р ё о р іе in v o lv e d in a p o litic a l p ro c e s s w ith o u t th e
b e n e f i t o f n a t i o n h o o d ?
W o h a v e le a rn e d th a t th e b e m o a n e d la c k o f u n ity In o u r c o m m u n ity is a
s u p e rfic ia l g u is e b e n e a th w h ic h e x is ts a s o lid c o m m itm e n t to w h a t w e d e e m
e s s e n tia l.
W e h a v e le a rn e d th a t d e s p ite th e d iv e rs ity o f p o litic a l, s o c ia l, or e d u c a ­
tio n a l b a c k g ro u n d , A im e n ia n s a te b o u n d b y an itre v o c a b le p u rp o s e .
W e h a v e le a rn e d th a t n o tw ith s ta n d in g th e d is p e rs io n o f e ig h t m illio n
A rm e n ia n s llie w o rld o v e r, w e a te a c o h e s iv e , v ia b le p e o p le w h o ate fin a n ­
c ia lly m o re a fflu e n t a n d p o litic a lly m o re s o p h is tic a te d th a n w e h a v e been
d u r in g a n y o th e r p e iio d in o u r lo n g h is to ry .
W e h a v e le a rn e d th a t — y o u n g a n d o ld , e d u c a te d a n d illite ra te , ric h a n d
p o o i A rm e n ia n s a te g o n u in e ly c o n c e rn e d a b o u t th e w e lfa re a n d fa te o f
H a m p ig S a s s o u n ia n .
W e h a v e le a rn e d th a t S a s s o u n ia n h as b e c o m e a s y m b o l o f th e v ic tim *
m ir a tio n , o p p re s s io n , a n d u n re s o lv e d in ju s tic e s to w h ic h A rm e n ia n s h ave
b e e n s u b je c te d fo r o v e r h a lf a c e n tu ry .
In d e e d , in v ie w o f th e s e re a liz a tio n s , w e a ls o m u s t le a tn to a c k n o w le d g e
o u r s iie n g th s a n d p ro c la im o u r p tid e in o u r n a tio n a l s p irit as w e g ird
o u t s o lv e s fo r th e d iffic u lt m o n th s a h e a d .
They defend their murderers and assassins ... at first they force a 20
year-old lad into a capital offense. Then they pretend to 'defend' the
poor youth who sacrificed his life for a lifeless bloody myth!
128
The Political Background
o f the Armenian Terrorist Organization
A SA LA
An unprecedented terrorist "summit" was held in Teheran
in February, 1986, on the occasion o f the seventh anniversary
o f the Ayatollah Khomeini's revolution. "Ismai-
lian revolutionaries" - o f the Iranian persuasion - met with
leaders o f the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, Hussein
Moussavi's men o f the Jihad organization, the Saudi
Arabian Mujahedeen, the Shiite Amal grouping from
Bahrain, delegates from the Moro gangs in the Phillipines
and Libyan intelligence officers.
What especially concerned Western observers about this
Teheran terrorists' conference was that the Armenians
were also represented.
Roughly 200,000 Armenians live in Iran. They have so
far remained remarkably undisturbed by the fanatical
Shiites o f the Ayatollah. These Armenians are used extensively
against Turkey. Iran officially maintains good relations
with Turkey and depends heavily on goods transported
through Anatolia. Since the improvement o f
Turkish relations with Iraq however, Iran has taken an
anti-Turkish turn. The Armenians are once again serving
as useful pawns for the rulers o f a country which is only
looking after its own interests.
The A SA LA was in the past kept under some restraint in
Iran, but now they have official Iranian support to
strengthen their cooperation with terrorist groups such as
that o f Abu Nidal. Observers point out again and again
the astonishing parallels between Armenian and Shiite
terrorist attacks. (The airport attacks in Vienna, Rome,
and Paris are good examples.) The Armenian newspaper
"G A M K ", which is published in Paris, recently printed a
major article promoting "armed struggle". GAM K asked
the rhetorical question, "Is the effort to weaken the West
related to the Armenian question?" The response said in
part:
"There are American and NATO bases in Turkish Armenia.
Therefore, the United States will oppose and fight
any force that tries to upset the stability o f that region and
to change the status quo. In other words, to liberate the
Armenian lands we will have to deal not only with the
Turkish government but also the Atlantic Alliance and the
United States . . . When the Armenian liberation struggle
intensifies, the U. S. government will impose tighter restrictions
on the ,freedom' o f Armenians inside and outside
the United States and will employ every possible
means to crush the Armenian liberation struggle. Either
we give up the dream o f liberating the Armenian lands
and appease Turkey and the United States, or we fight to
liberate the Armenian lands and upset Turkey, NATO and
the United States ... A weakened NATO and a weakened
United States would make it easier to liberate the
Armenian lands . . . (and) would help free the Third
World from the yoke o f American imperialism."