766) Assassination of Talat Pasha and Harootiun Mugerditchian

INTRODUCTION

A young man named Tehlirian was brought to Berlin by an Armenian secret organization. He was helped to rent an apartment close to where Talat Pasha resided and he waited for the day to kill him. All of the members of this secret Armenian organization were informed of this murderous act that was going to take place on the 21 March 1921. Everything was well planned and on that tragic day Tehlirian walked behind Talat Pasha in Berlin, Germany, who was strolling along, pulled out his gun and shot him behind his head. Although Tehlirian attempted to escape, he was caught by the German authorities and arrested. The news of this murderous act spread fast and some of the German newspapers published headlines referring to the event as “the loss of a friend of Germany who remained true up to the last few days before the Ottoman Empire finally collapsed” (see p.15 Ref. 1). The Armenians worldwide celebrated this murderous act and they even referred to Tehlirian as a hero.

Since I was very intrigued by the assassination of Talat Pasha, I decided to investigate Tehlirian’s background to find out who this man was, was he a hero or just a simple murderer and how the German court system was mislead in this tragic event. As the proceeding chapters will show that Turks never really knew well Armenians with whom they lived together for centuries. Furthermore, it will shed some light into the Armenian secret organization known as NEMESIS.

It was never known how much money Talat Pasha had in German banks. According to the Armenian sources, Talat Pasha had a fortune of 10 million Deutsch marks in safe keeping in a Deutsch Bank (p. 15, Ref. 1). It is very mysterious how the Armenians found out such confidential information. Furthermore, this appears to be a completely fabricated since Aubrey Herbert, an English writer interviewing Talat Pasha in Germany prior to his assassination, revealed in his book (p. 164, Ref. 4) that in his three days of interviewing Talat Pasha, he was dressed modestly but appeared to be in poverty and he would even bring his lunch to the meetings.

Tehlirian was visited by an Armenian Catholic Priest while in jail in Germany, who blessed him “for having killed the monster and wreaking revenge for all” (p. 21-22, Ref.1). Is it proper for a religious man to make such a statement? Furthermore, the Priest said to Tehlirian that he was en route to Rome and “I shall ask the Pope to bless you for your work since you have performed as a gift to your nation.” Can the Pope bless such a murderous act as a gift? I went to a Lutheran Church to ask the Priest whether a Priest could bless a man who had committed a murder. His response was a simple NO and he was shocked to see such things were written in the book. He even provided a copy of an article written by Martin Luther praising the Turks.

After celebrating the assassination of Talat Pasha, many Armenians attended his funeral like his friends. This really made me realize we never knew Armenians. Isn’t it dishonorable to arrange to kill a person and then to attend his funeral like you had nothing to do with it? No matter what denomination one belongs to, such an act would not be acceptable in any religion.

Tehlirian was 22 years old when he murdered Talat Pasha in 1921. In 1915 he was living in Erzincan, a city in the Eastern part of Turkey. When the World War I started in 1914, Armenians in the Eastern part of Turkey were armed and starting a guerilla warfare. The Ottoman authorities could not control the situation and the whole region was in chaos. The life was not safe for subjects of the Ottoman Empire living in the area, including Turks, Kurds, Armenians and even Greeks. The armies were dispatched to the fronts to fight Russians attacking in the eastern front and the internal police force was too weak to control the situation. Under the circumstances the militia forces of Kurds, Armenians and Greeks were active trying to carve up part of the territory for their own gains. During this time, Tehlirian traveled east to Tbilisi, Georgia crossing the border over to Russia to join the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) fighting the Ottoman forces (p. 41, Ref. 1). Tehlirian signed up as a member of ARF and fought the Ottomans as a guerilla for three years.

The Armenian sources also admit that Armenians living in the Eastern part of Turkey crossed over to participate in terrorist activities to help the Russian forces to defeat Ottomans. Like many other Armenians living in that area, Tehlirian took part in the killings of many Turks and Kurds within those three years. It is stated  that (p.41, Ref. 1) “within the next four years as his missions took him from one corner of Anatolia to other”. It is certain that the missions of such a person were to annihilate as many Turks, Kurds and Armenians as possible who did not side with his cause. Armenian guerilla activities were not new since Armenians started these activities back in 1895 (p. 86, Ref. 8). “Hnchaks desperately in need of funds, turned their weapons on rich Armenians and demanded that they contribute financially to the national revolution. On 2 December 1895 two merchants of Tbilisi, Zakar Abovian and Petros Makarian, were wounded by Hnchaks and the less fortunate Stepan Gevorkian was killed on the business street in the city.” These events are testimonial to the facts that Armenians created the first terrorist organization in the world. They claim to be the first Christians and no doubt that they are also the architects of a first terrorist organization.

Dashnaks adopted a different style known as taxation and terrorism and they carried this out within the borders of the Ottoman Empire. According to some sources, Dashnaks assassinated a rich Armenian in Izmir and another rich Armenian businessman in Bursa. I am confident that there were many more of such murderous acts known to Armenians living in Turkey but, being afraid of their own lives, they would not speak about them. Tehlirian most likely took part in the activities of both Armenian groups. While Armenians were enjoying the citizenship of the Ottoman Empire and at the same time undermining the country, most of the Turkish citizens were not aware of their activities.

The Armenian Church had the freedom in its activities and was never monitored by the Ottoman authorities. Armenians were free to practice their own language as well. On the surface they appeared to be friendly with their Turkish counterparts, but underneath they carried out their agenda. When I first met Mr. Ararat, an Armenian friend, he told me that he was not a Dashnak and I should not be afraid to make his acquaintance. Now, I understand what he meant by that. He further revealed to me that his grandfather advised him never to become a member of the Dashnak party and to stay away from them. When I asked him how would I know who is Dashnak, he smiled and said, “it is your problem”.

ARMENIANS ATTACK MUSLIMS 

There are two important periods of Armenian attacks against the Muslims within the Ottoman Empire. The first one took place at the beginning of World War I in 1914 and the second one at the end in 1918. Tehlirian was in the Eastern part of Turkey while the killings of innocent Muslim citizens were being carried out by Armenians. According to British sources, (p. 221-222, Ref. 7), at the end of World War I, there were mass murders of 300,000 to 400,000 citizens within the vicinity of Van and Bitlis by Armenians active in the Russian armies (U.S. 18402/184021/265 meeting with Colonel Wooley of British Army on 12 September 1919). 

Tehlirian returned to his native city of Erzincan when it was occupied by Russian forces in 1916. (p. 41, Ref.1). Many of the houses in Erzincan were destroyed due to the civil war. Tehlirian found the family home and his objective was to search for gold in the house which was buried by his father some years earlier. Recalling the instructions his father had given, he determined the spot where the gold was buried and began to dig. After very little effort, he found the gold coins worth 4,800 Turkish pounds (p.71, Ref. 1). This was a great deal of money and it is not known what he did with this money or how did he carry it around. It is very bizarre that his family would have moved by leaving such a great deal of money in the house.  Tehlirian remained in Erzincan for about six weeks.

During this time, Muslim villagers around Erzincan suffered in the hands of Russian army deserters and were inflicted even more casualties from attacks of the armed Armenian units (p. 221, Ref. 7). The unarmed Muslim citizens were killed, they were kidnapped and some of them were never heard of from again. The Armenian units burned the stores and houses of Muslim citizens, they looted their property and raped their women.

Let us look at the events that took place while Tehlirian was in Erzincan in 1916. Although he neglected to mention these facts in his testimony during the trial in Germany, it is worthwhile to review some of these events (pp. 220-225, Ref. 7).

1_ Men living in Erzincan and the villages within the vicinity of Erzincan, were
taken away as prisoners, with their hands tied behind their backs and they were all shot to death in the barracks.

2_ Many of the men living in Erzincan were taken away, locked in buildings and burned
alive.

3_ Armenians burned down the houses belonging to Muslims, city hall and the mosques.

4_ Approximately 500 citizens from villages near Erzincan were collected and brought to Erzincan, later to be killed in the center of the city.

The town of Tercan was completely burned down by Armenians. The buildings were destroyed by dynamites and close to 700 children were found among the ruins (p. 227, Ref. 7). Similar atrocities were carried out in and within the vicinity of Erzurum on 10 February 1918. (p. 228, Ref. 7). The Muslim population in Erzurum were collected and killed at the entrance of the city. According to Ottoman archives, approximately 8,000 people were eliminated. The worst of these Armenian atrocities took place in villages within Erzincan, Erzurum and Trabzon triangle and in these areas Armenians did have help from Greek guerillas (p. 229, Ref. 7). Armed Armenian groups attacked Muslim homes in Iskenderun looking for the so-called abducted Armenian girls. Only a few of the women taken away by Armenians were actually Armenian (pp. 234-235, Ref.7).

The Armenian attention was directed to the Caucasus where in May of 1918 victorious Armenian forces proclaimed an independent Armenian Republic. However, none of the Armenians were relocating there, instead they were migrating to the West with the hope of becoming wealthy (p. 43, Ref. 1). Tehlirian himself returned to Tbilisi in 1918 suffering from typhus. Since he killed so many people, may be it was God’s way of punishing him. Anahid, a friend of his family, nursed him through this crisis until he got well to travel again. The events showed that Tehlirian was a witness and most likely he participated in the murderous acts inflicted upon the Muslim citizens. It is hard to believe how Tehlirian managed to travel at ease during the most difficult times in the history of the Ottoman Empire. During the civil war, Tehlirian managed to cross the border to join the Russian side and then back in Anatolia traveling everywhere.

In his testimony at the trial Tehlirian stated that the War ended in 1918. But not in Turkey. When the French forces were trying to occupy the southern part of Turkey in November of 1918, the Armenian population living within the vicinity of Dortyol joined forces with armed Armenian forces to attack Muslim villages.

Tehlirian Commits a Murder in Istanbul (on behalf of the secret Armenian Organization)     

Istanbul is a mystique city at the cross-roads of two continents separated by beautiful Bosphorous that attracts people to itself. In addition to its historical monuments, mosques and churches which were preserved by Ottomans for generations to enjoy, there was an individual who loved his country and who wanted to continue to live there. May be it was the last day of an Armenian who loved Turks. We never got to know him but from now on everybody will remember Harootiun Mugerditchian. He was accused by the militant Armenians to bring news to Talat Pasha and this was sufficient for them to condemn him to death. It was sad that we lost an Armenian friend. Let us now investigate how this crime took place since it was an important start of the Armenian terror that later extended to the killings of many Turkish diplomats.

When Tehlirian traveled to Istanbul, he was welcomed into a circle of Armenians better educated than him (pp.42-44, Ref. 1). It was most likely that the NEMESIS group in Istanbul investigating whereabouts of Talat Pasha welcomed him among themselves. One of the members of this group, Yeranoohi Danielian, became very friendly with Tehlirian and informed him that Talat Pasha was no longer in Turkey. Tehlirian was further surprised to find out that other members of Talat Pasha’s cabinet such as War Minister Enver Pasha, Navy Minister Jemal Pasha and the Education Minister Nazim Bey also had left Turkey. Since Talat Pasha was no longer available, Tehlirian was convinced to murder Harootiun Mugerditchian, an Armenian agent of Talat Pasha. It was alleged that Mugerditchian gave a list of Armenian   activists in Istanbul to Talat Pasha and they were later arrested. Yeranoohi showed Tehlirian Mugerditchian’s house and the arrangements were made to assassinate Mugerditchian at a dinner party he was giving in his house. Tehlirian approached from outside the window of dining room where the dinner was being held.

“Whose son had purchased five bottles of cognac from a café opposite to entertain guests. Looking in the window of the house, Tehlirian saw ten people seated around the table. He felt contempt for self satisfied demise Mugerditchian displayed before his guests. His pulse pounded in his temples and voice within him to shoot through the window. Tehlirian armed the gun which he owned since the days in Tbilisi, aimed at Mugerditchian’s heart, pulled the trigger and the informer crumbled in his chair. As the guests stared in horror at their host, Tehlirian fled.”(p.44, Ref.1).

1_ This is a proof that the Armenians were organized for an armed struggle to over throw the regime with guerilla and terrorist tactics.

2_ One cannot but question who else Armenians killed in Istanbul during that time and placed the blame on Turks, Kurds or Jews.

3_ In Baku alone anywhere from 8,000 to 10,000 Muslims were murdered by Armenians (p.250, Ref.7).

4_ Lord Curzon listed the persons responsible for these crimes. Although Armenians tried to put the blame on Azerbaijan Muslims, the records showed that most of the crimes were committed by Armenians. (p.252, Ref. 7).

5_ Armenians murdered more than 300 Jews trying to escape from their persecutions towards Hakkari and thus annihilating the oldest Jewish population living in Anatolia (p.210, Ref.7).

6_ Tehlirian for the next four years, as his missions took him from one corner of Anatolia to the other (p. 41, Ref.7). When Russian forces occupied Erzincan in 1916, he returned.

a) One wonders how many other Armenians did this terror organization murder and place the blame on Turks. Their actions were definitely an internal cleaning activity.

b) Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C. was requested to write to the Armenian Church in Istanbul to obtain information about Mr. Mugerditchian from their historical records.

c) According to what I was told, Armenians blamed Turks for the murder of Mugerditchian and, may be, as a result of this all of his family and friends escaped from Istanbul in fear!

d) There is no doubt that this murder was committed by Tehlirian. Since Mugerditchian was a friend of Turks, I believe that Turkish Authorities should invite his surviving relatives and honor this courageous man. All this of course depends on whether his surviving relatives are not afraid of the Armenian terror organization to come forward.

e) It is important for Turkish Foreign Service to warn the Europeans and the North American governments that there might many other Tehlirians on the lose in their countries planning to commit terrorist acts any time.

f) The records show that even during the War, Armenians were involved in terrorist acts.

The following day, Tehlirian was not sure whether he was successful in killing Muderditchian. Yeranoohi Danielian came to Tehlirian’s house, shook his hand and said with a smile that she learned from a friend that Mugerditchian hours were numbered. “Mugerditchian died the next day and Armenians of Constantinople celebrated with exuberance.” (p.44, Ref. 7). After hearing the news, even the Armenian Patriarch Zaven in Istanbul was happy with the news and blessed Tehlirian for his actions.

1_ This clearly shows that Armenians had a big celebration every time they killed a Turkish diplomat. We used to live in the Netherlands when the Turkish Ambassador’s son Ahmet Benler was gunned down in his car by the Armenian terrorists in the downtown Hague. Approximately one month later, there were death threats to Turks working for NATO.

2_ According to an Armenian friend, although some of the Armenians did not want to get involved in terrorist activities, they were forced to it by Dashnak Armenians and most importantly by some of the priests. Patriarch Zaven was one of these priests and he managed to have a following to chase a dream unfit to a religious man at any cause. Therefore, even before 1915, prior to the start of tragic events, many Armenians had left Istanbul by selling their properties. The following is a testimonial to what my Armenian friend had told me: (p.45, Ref.1)) “One day Tehlirian was summoned by Patriarch Zaven. Zaven was exiled in 1915 and the Armenian Church suffered greatly as a result of Mugerditchian’s betrayal. The Patriarch received and blessed Tehlirian and stated that Mugerditchian was three times worse than a traitor and he officially condoned Tehlirian’s act.”

3_ Harootiun Mugerditchian, as a person loving his country, must have given very important vital information together with a list of Armenians to Talat Pasha to save the country from further disaster since Armenians were revolting all over the country.

4_ Hovanisian always claimed that those arrested were sent into exile in Anatolia, later to be killed. All those authors who were or are the enemies of Turkey repeated the same story by copying it from each other. It should be remembered that there is no evidence to justify this accusation (p.41, Ref.6).

5_ On 20 April 1915 Russian forces forced all of the Muslims living in Russian territories over the border into Anatolia. This created further chaos and unrest in the Eastern part of Turkey since it was becoming impossible to put down the revolting Armenians. To solve this problem, Enver Pasha proposed two options to Talat Pasha. The first one was to drive all of the Armenians over the border into Russia and the second one was to disperse them to the rest of the country (p.43, Ref.6). 

While Tehlirian was in Erzincan in 1916, Armenian guerilla forces were inflicting great losses on the population, all of the villages between Cardakli Passage and Erzincan were attacked, houses burned, fruit trees burned and cut down and the villagers murdered. Such barbaric acts were never seen there before and corpses spread on roads and many of them cut into pieces. The infants, elderly women and men were slaughtered and bodies scattered all over the fields. Those that survived could not do anything else but spend days collecting and burying the corpses. The authorities recovered wells near Erzincan full of Muslim corpses, again all of them cut into pieces and some of them spread over the fields. These atrocities are documented in the memoirs of Vehip Pasha (p.225, Ref.7).  I am confident that Tehlirian was a witness to these atrocities but I am not surprised that he never mentioned them during the trial in Germany. It is also known that “Armenian volunteer units had been organized for the sole purpose of engaging in guerilla activities against the Turks.” (p.41, Ref.1). This of course also justifies misplacement of many Armenians for their own safety and for the good of the country.

When Tehlirian returned to Tbilisi again, he was suffering from typhus. This signifies that diseases were plentiful in the area and some of them fatal. While Tehlirian was an Ottoman subject, he did not hesitate to cross the border to join Russian forces. Although this was the act of a traitor, it was worse than that. These are Ottoman subjects who lived together with Turks for 500 years and who were friendly with Turks on the surface and carried out all sorts of crimes secretly with their hatred. It is a pity that I found this out today after reading all of these books written by Armenians and other English authors.    

Inconsistencies in Tehlirian’s Testimony

Tehlirian was born in Erzincan and his parents were not highly educated. He claimed that except for himself, all of his family members were killed. He did not reveal the fact that the region he lived in was where the Armenians took arms to fight the authorities. It is also very doubtful that his family members were killed the way he described.

1. He was in Erzincan with his mother, brothers and sister. His father was in Belgrade seeking to have his family join him (p.40, Ref.1).

2. With time in his hands, Tehlirian traveled to Greece where he had distant relatives and from there he went on to Serbia to visit his father and brothers (p.45, Ref.1).

(Page 206, author Edward Alexander, a Foreign Service Officer of Armenian descent)

3. His father was killed before his eyes in the first massacre and his sister was a victim of the second (p.206, Ref.1). But his father was working in Serbia.  It is amazing that within the same book a person was dead in one instance and the same person was well alive at a later scene.

These are certainly proof that the facts were twisted and some events were fabricated as convenient. When a nation was being blamed for atrocities, not with facts but with fabricated lies, how can one believe the validity of those claims? Tehlirian used to carry an Iranian passport (p.18, Ref.1). All of the Iranian Armenians left prior to 1915 with the fear of Dashnak terror and probably his family also left for similar reasons and they were all alive and well contrary to what he claimed.

1_ An incident relayed to me by a friend of mine made me sad. In California a young student was on the school football team and one day a group Armenian descent youngsters tried to beat him up. The other players on the team prevented the incident and he was saved. 

2_ Armenians are continuously preaching to their children, particularly in churches, to hate Turks. This is very similar to fundamentalist teachings to young Muslim children by fanatics with hatred of the west and western culture. Both of these actions lead people to terror and this is not what the humanity needs.

Armenians nearly worshipped Tehlirian. In the basement of churches they always preached to hate Turks. I obtained a book that belongs to an Armenian church and I was astonished to read the following passage. “Again the hall reverberated with shouts cheers and hammering on tables. Then, women of all eyes ahead of the men lined up to meet him (Tehlirian).” (pp.205-206, Ref.1). This man had committed murder after murder and he was being greeted as a hero. I guess the author was very young when the atrocities against Turks were carried out by Armenians. He revealed in his book that he was also in the Church when Tehlirian was greeted as a hero. He turned to his father and asked “who is this man?”. His father replied that his name will not mean anything to him now but someday it will. The author continued “He turned looking down at me in the front seat and said in a trembling voice which I can still hear “because with that hand he avenged our people. Never forget him.” It is sad that Mr. Alexander managed to seed such a hatred in his son that it served no purpose. This is a typical oriental mentality.

How can anybody with a clear head and loving heart accept to have young minds of children filled with nothing but hate, especially in churches. None of the Christians I know agrees with this and they all cry out that this is not Christianity.

There is one important question that needs to be asked:

1) Was Tehlirian a hero or a simple murderer? 

2) He was a member of a secret organization and today it is referred to as a terror organization.

3) How can Balakian as a priest defend Tehlirian in the name of Jesus knowing that he committed a murderous act?

4) The terrorist acts of September 11 were wake-up calls to the World. Prior to this event, more than 30,000 innocent civilians were killed by the terrorist P.K.K. organization in Turkey.

5) It is well known that Armenians were very successful for years to collect sympathy in the name of Christianity.

6) It should be known that Tehlirian was blessed by the Armenian Church for his killings since he was an Armenian.

7) Today all religions would have to be united to fight terrorism. However, as the author stated in his book; “Search was finally over; NEMESIS had found its man and Sogomon Tehlirian was selected from among other agents would be the assassin of Talat Pasha.” (pp.50-51, Ref.1).

1) The assassination of Talat Pasha was masterminded by Armen Gero (Karakin Pasdermajian) who was very close to Talat Pasha at one time. They were planning reforms and they respected each other. However, the War and the interference of external powers in the internal affairs of the Ottoman Empire encouraged Armen Gero to plan an Armenian revolt thus destroying Talat Pasha’s trust.

NEMESIS is still active today and one wonders if it is an underground organization just like Nazism. When our diplomats were killed, did the Armenian Church bless these murderous acts? Ahmet Benler murdered in the Netherlands was the only the son of a Turkish Ambassador. I am sure NEMESIS knew who carried out this killing and if an Armenian writes a book on this subject, like they had written about other killings, we will all find out how this was planned. More importantly it is crucial that the American lobby find out the facts about this incident. Unfortunately everything can be bought in the name of lobbying activity: VOTE plus MONEY plus SYMPATHY is EQUAL to LOBBY.

Conclusions

This is a partial story of two groups of people who lived together in Anatolia for centuries but did not get to know each other very well. For a strange reason it is always the Turks that are blamed for every wrong doing while there were many other people of different religious and national origin living there. It was not probably easy to get along with people of varying cultures and religions. It must be the economic situation since we do not notice the same problems in the USA.  When the economy of the Ottoman Empire was doing well, every ethnic group was prospering and getting along well with each other. There was religious and language freedom.

I am not in favor of any Empire in the World. However, the Ottoman Armenians have no right to criticize and to be angry at the Ottoman Empire that has helped them to prosper while neglecting its own subjects. Therefore, the Turks have the right to be angry not the Armenians. There is no doubt that the First World War caused many hardships to both the Armenians and the Turks and only big powers such as British and French benefited from that conflict. Ottomans showed enormous tolerance and probably there was no other country in the World which allowed that many missionaries and consulates to be established. I have no doubt that the circumstances would be much better than today if both sides managed to share their knowledge and wealth and helped each other. If one is sharing a country, what is important is to help the country to prosper, not to divide it up. This certainly could have been accomplished since the Armenians and the Turks have many similar customs and Turks, in general, like Armenians.

I think the World is getting too old and the genocide is being committed against the World. There is an economic genocide that is being conducted in the World, billions are being spent on weapons to kill people and millions are being spent on lobbying activities to dictate or deprive people of basic rights. Our great leader Ataturk taught us to get along with people, not to carry-on any hatred and to live in peace.

We get along very well with Armenians living in Turkey and there is no reason why this cannot be done with Armenians residing either in Europe or in North America. I believe 24 April should be accepted as a day of remembrance for those who died in the World War I and also for those killed from terrorism. We should stop preaching our children one sided view of the events to fill them with hate and archives on both sides should be accessible to historians. As my friend Mr. Ararat explained, the big powers tried to control the situation by making false promises. There were extremists on both sides and many innocent people lost their lives.

I do not think people mature by education or by religion and money certainly do not make anyone more civilized. As I stated earlier, the World is going through an economic genocide, the air is becoming polluted, water supplies are diminishing, and the nature is gradually disappearing. I strongly believe that we have not become a mature civilization if we are still continuing to argue an unsubstantiated event that took place more than 80 years ago.            

I believe that this incident should be made into a documentary to convince the members of the US Congress and other lobbying groups on what really happened. One should not forget the saying that “a picture is worth thousand words”. I remember the effect of a short television program on the members of the House of Representatives during a committee hearing on the Armenian issue in Washington, D.C. few years ago. That documentary was prepared with funding from the Armenians and had an enormous impact on the members of the committee deliberating the Armenian issue. I am ready to provide all of the materials I have in my possession for such a movie.

SOGOMON TEHLIRIAN’S TRAVEL ROUTES

(Travel arrangements and expenses arranged by NEMESIS) Istanbul, Turkey **

 

Etruks TÜRKER*
Review of ARMENIAN STUDIES, Number 3, Volume 1 - 2003

*Tehlirian joined Armenian Revolutionary Federation
**Tehlirian murdered Harootiun Mugerditchian
***Met with NEMESIS terrorist organization to receive instructions and money.
Personally met with Armen Gero, Pan-Armenian leader of NEMESIS
**** Murdered Talat Pasha

LIST OF REFERENCES

1. Edward Alexander; A Crime of Vengeance- An Armenian Struggle for Justice; the Free Press (A Division of Macmillan, Inc.), 1991, pp.15-22, 41-51, 71, 206

2. David F. Altabe, Erhan Atay and Israel J. Katz (Co-Editors); Studies on Turkish-Jewish History: Political and Social Relations, Literature and Linguistics-The Quincentennial Papers; Sepher-Hermon Press, Inc. for the American Society of Sephardic Studies, 1996

3. Peter Balakian; Black Dog of Fate - A Memoir; Broadway Books, New York, 1997

4. Alpay Babacali; Talat Pasanin Anilari (Memoirs of Talat Pasha); Iletisim Yayinlari – Birinci Baski (First edition) San Yayinlari, Istanbul, 1986, p.164

5. Bernard Lewis; What Went Wrong – Western Impact and Middle Eastern Response; Oxford University Press, 2002

6. Gerorges de Maleville; 1915 Osmanli-Rus Ermeni Trajedisi (1915 Ottoman-Russian Armenian Tragedy) – Fransiz Avukatin Ermeni Tezleri Karsisinda Turkiye Savunmasi (Defense of Turkey of a French Lawyer against the Armenian Thesis); Toplumsal Donusum Yayinlari, Istanbul, 1998; This book was translated into Turkish by Necdet Bakkaloglu

7. Justin McCarthy; Olum ve Surgun (Death and Exile); Osmanli Muslumanlarina Karsi Yurutulen Ulus Olarak Temizleme Islemi (The Ethnic Cleansing of Ottoman Muslims); Inkilap Kitabevi, 1998; This book was published by Darwin Press, Inc. in 1995 and translated into Turkish by Bilge Umar, pp.220-235

8. Ronald Grigor Suny; Looking Toward Ararat – Armenia in Modern History; Indiana University Press, 1993, p.86

9. Bilal N. Simsir; Sehit Diplomatlarimiz (Our Assassinated Diplomats), (1973-1994); Bilgi Yayinevi, 2000

10. David Walder; Canakkale Olayi (The Chanak Affair); Milliyet Yayinlari, 1970; This book was published in 1969 by Hutchinson and Co. Ltd., MacMillan  and translated into Turkish by M. Ali Kayabal

Mourad Topalian: (from court records; The United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio Eastern Division; The United of States of America, the Plaintiff, versus Mourad Topalian, the Defendant, 12 October 1999)  

From about 1 June 1976 to 13 September 1996 Mourad Topalian and other persons known and unknown to the Grand Jury, committed offenses against the United States. They were charged with conspiracy to acquire, receive, transport, store, possess firearms and explosive materials in excess of 100 pounds,  including fully automatic firearms and stolen explosives, with the intend to use them against persons of Turkish descent as well as against buildings and facilities used in interstate and foreign commerce by persons of Turkish descent. Their intend was to bring publicity to killings of Armenians in 1915 by carrying out acts of violence and acts of property damage against Turkish government facilities, Turkish businesses and persons of Turkish descent.

Topalian was the National Chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America. He and his accomplices devised a scheme to steal and to obtain dynamite and other explosives to be used in violence acts. These explosive materials were transported in interstate commerce and were stored in rented self-storages to be used in training as well as acts of violence. They conducted training exercises for members of the so-called the “elite” group in the use of firearms and explosives at Camp Haiastan in Franklin, Mass. and in Beirut, Lebanon. In mid-1976, Topalian directed persons, identities known to the Grand Jury, to travel to Beirut, Lebanon and to receive specialized training in the use of firearms. While in Lebanon, these persons met with high ranking officials of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), identities known to the Grand Jury.

Between 1979 and 1980, Topalian directed various individuals to travel to Manhattan, NY, for surveillance of the building in which the Turkish Mission to the UN was located. Topalian himself traveled to New York on 11 October 1980 to transport explosives to bomb the Turkish Mission to the UN. Finally on 12 October 1980 Topalian and two other persons detonated the bombs causing damage to a stolen car they were using and to the Turkish Mission at the UN destroying property belonging to Turkey. In this act three innocent by passers  were injured.

Topalian instructed his wife Lucy Topalian to rent a self-serve mini storage facility in Ohio and Topalian himself moved firearms and explosive materials into this storage several times between 1980 and 1996. However, later they were separated and his wife did not hesitate to testify against him since she did not approve his terrorist activities.

Topalian and his accomplices were active in California as well, and on 20 November 1981 they managed to detonate an explosive device at the Turkish Consulate in Beverly Hills, CA, causing property damage. In addition, explosives were transported from California to Mass. with the intend to detonate another explosive device at the office of the Turkish General Consul in Philadelphia, PA, on 22 October 1982.

On 12 April 1988 Mourad Topalian made false statements to FBI and denied any knowledge of participation in the bombing of Turkish Mission at the UN. He also denied any charges for possession of stolen explosives or having dispatched anybody to Beirut, Lebanon for training.   It is very interesting that according to the Court records, Topalian’s lawyers requested on several occasions communications and files of the CIA on this matter. The US District Attorney argued that CIA has no records since this was a domestic law enforcement matter. Furthermore, it is very intriguing that the defense argued to obtain a copy of the file the White House allegedly requested from CIA regarding Mourad Topalian. The US District Attorney’s counter argument was that it was not clear when such a file was requested by the White House. It was further argued that George Stephanopolous, who supposedly made the request, was no longer in the White House since he left his post after the November 1996 general election. It was known that as a prominent member of the Armenian society in the USA, Topalian visited the White House on various occasions lobbying against Turkey while carrying out his terrorist agenda.

Topalian telephoned convicted Armenian terrorist Viken Havsepian moments after he learned that the explosives had been found by police in the storage unit near the day care center. Some of the other accomplices of Topalian known to FBI were Hagop Gebeshian, who provided false statements about the Camp Haiastan, and Vartkes Hagopian , who was interviewed by FBI regarding this case and the contents of the interview were not disclosed. It was believed that Hagopian fled the USA following the arrest of Topalian.

One of Topalian’s justifications for renting the storage place was his claim that ARF in Lebanon asked him to coordinate the defense forces to protect 300,000 Armenians in central Beirut who were caught up in cross-fire between the Christians and the Muslims during the Lebanese civil war. The Armenian communities around the World were volunteering and collecting money and the storage place was rented to protect their names, addresses and correspondence. The storage later was used for storing explosives and firearms.

Mourad Topalian was charged in October 1999 with conspiracy acts, possession and storage of explosives and firearms, and transportation of them in interstate commerce. The Bedford storage facility used by him and his accomplices was within the vicinity of Childtime Children’s Day Care Center, an operating gas station, and an office complex. The storage was less than 300 feet from a public highway with a daily traffic volume of 3,000 vehicles. The charges of terrorism were taken out after the plea-bargaining and his admission of the charges. The US authorities knew very well his association with other Armenian terrorist and convicts. They even knew his correspondence with the ARF and despite of all these facts terrorism charges against Topalian were dropped. This is very mysterious, to say the least. Can one imagine what would have happened if those explosives in the storage area exploded accidentally? This certainly would have caused casualties similar to September 11 terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers. Topalian was guilty of putting the life of those innocent children in the day care center as well as the people in the office complexes in danger, not counting the persons driving by on the nearby highway.

Mourad Topalian Sixty people, including some priests, provided “good-character” letter for Topalian. How could anybody consider a man having “good-character” who acted as a terrorist? This was no different than the Tehlirian case where Balakian, an Armenian priest, blessed him for his terrorist acts. Let us not forget that the names of two Armenian priests, James Karnusian, living in Switzerland, and Arthur Helvadjian, from Marseilles, were mentioned after the killing of Mehmet Savas Erguz, a Turkish international civil servant working in Geneva on 19 June 1981. Mr. Erguz’s wife, Esther Erguz, is a Swiss citizen and he had two young children. It was shocking to see the picture of President Clinton with Mourad Topalian during his lobbying activities at the White House prior to being caught for his terrorist acts. The Armenian lobby with the leadership of a terrorist like Topalian, tried to have the genocide bill approved in the Congress in addition to placing economic embargo against Turkey. Mourad Topalian claimed to be a hero by his lawyer Mark Gerogo and declared that nobody in the Armenian community could call him a terrorist. He was no hero. Those that tried to take back the airplane on Flight 93 in Pennsylvania on 11 September 2001 are the heroes. The Armenian Church in Turkey condemned the terrorist acts committed by Armenians outside of Turkey. They admitted that these terrorist acts would be remembered as shameful incidents in history. Topalian’s young daughter is ill and we wish her all the best. How could someone who has a child himself, possess such a hatred that he places the lives of many  children in danger by storing more than 100 pounds of dynamite near their day-care facility and at the same time ruining his own life .     The French news-media tolerated the terror against Turkish diplomats by acting like they never took place until it hit home when a suitcase bomb carried by an Armenian terrorist waiting to check-in for a Turkish Airlines flight exploded at the Orly Airport. Assassination in Athens. Counselor Galip Ozmen,  his wife, his daughter Neslihan and his son visiting  visited him, were all gunned down by Armenian terrorists.

September 11 Nobody could understand better than Turks the suffering Firefighters and their families went through. Ara Toranian defended the Armenian terror in Switzerland. How can anybody defend terror after what happened on September 11? President Clinton visited Turkey after the earthquake of August 2000. When he got to know Turkish people better who were full of passion, love and respect, I am confident that his opinion of Turkish people changed for the positive. Who can forget the incident with that little boy who squeezed President Clinton’s nose. When one imagines this scene and the 100 pounds of dynamite stored by Topalian that could explode and take the lives of numerous children, It is not difficult to realize extend of the Armenian terror. Why did September 11 take place? The deep reasons for this terrible act would have to be discussed in the media with objective reasoning. It needs to be asked, is Topalian really a hero? How did this man who hid explosive and firearms and carried-out terrorist acts succeeded in visiting the White House? I am confident that the Ottoman leaders were also mislead by such trickery. How could President know? This certainly is a proof that we as Turks were never successful in impressing upon the Christian community the true face of the Armenians. When the 55 year old Turkish Counselor Kemal Arikan was murderer by two Armenian terrorist in Los Angeles, CA on 28 January 1982, an American who witnessed the incident suffered a heart attack and died. Thanks to the pursuit of a citizen involved in law, these terrorists, 19 years old Hampig Sasunian and 18 years old Ara Sasunian, were caught. Robert R. Raid, a security officer, who investigated Mourad Topalian stated that the authorities were very concerned about the stability of the explosives. The explosives were taken to a dump site in Walton Hills and set-off. He furthermore stated that “God saved, Jesus Saved the Cleveland people and the children.”  September 11 Nobody could understand better than Turks the suffering Firefighters and their families went through. Ara Toranian defended the Armenian terror in Switzerland. How can anybody defend terror after what happened on September 11? President Clinton visited Turkey after the earthquake of August 2000. When he got to know Turkish people better who were full of passion, love and respect, I am confident that his opinion of Turkish people changed for the positive. Who can forget the incident with that little boy who squeezed President Clinton’s nose. When one imagines this scene and the 100 pounds of dynamite stored by Topalian that could explode and take the lives of numerous children, It is not difficult to realize extend of the Armenian terror. Why did September 11 take place? The deep reasons for this terrible act would have to be discussed in the media with objective reasoning. It needs to be asked, is Topalian really a hero? How did this man who hid explosive and firearms and carried-out terrorist acts succeeded in visiting the White House? I am confident that the Ottoman leaders were also mislead by such trickery. How could President know? This certainly is a proof that we as Turks were never successful in impressing upon the Christian community the true face of the Armenians. When the 55 year old Turkish Counselor Kemal Arikan was murderer by two Armenian terrorist in Los Angeles, CA on 28 January 1982, an American who witnessed the incident suffered a heart attack and died. Thanks to the pursuit of a citizen involved in law, these terrorists, 19 years old Hampig Sasunian and 18 years old Ara Sasunian, were caught. Robert R. Raid, a security officer, who investigated Mourad Topalian stated that the authorities were very concerned about the stability of the explosives. The explosives were taken to a dump site in Walton Hills and set-off. He furthermore stated that “God saved, Jesus Saved the Cleveland people and the children.”

Armenian Terror Europeans never took the Armenian terror very seriously since it was against Turks, until it started to hurt them. The killings of Turkish Ambassadors were exploited for publicity purposes by strong Armenian groups. Even the French government issued an ultimatum to Turkey to obtain the sympathy of Armenians living in France. Ambassador Ismail Erez and his driver Talip Yener were murdered in Vienna on 24 October 1975. Turkish Counselor Mehmet Baydar and his associate Bahadir Demir are gunned down by Yanikian in Santa Barbara, CA on 27 January 1973. Yanikian approached them with an excuse to present the Turkish government with an Ottoman painting that he was carrying with him. His lawyer defended Yanikian as a hero who fought against Turks in the city of Van during the Armenian uprising in 1915. God saved people in Cleveland, OH. Mourad Topalian stored more than 100 pounds of dynamite in a mini-storage facility near a gas station within the vicinity of a child day-care center and an office complex. Yanikian issued a message that young Armenians should pursue same tactic that he had selected to use. It is sad that to honor Yanikian a cell in prison was named after him. Elliot (an FBI agent) investigating Topalian soon found himself plunged into an aging Armenian underground once militant youth now had kids and moreover some broke down and cried as he interviewed them. How sad it is that these people were brainwashed by their parents and grandparents to carry out such hatred! This is no different than today El Kaide brainwashing children to hate the West and Western values. In the aftermath of September 11, when President Bush made his speech, he called upon Israelis and Palestanians to rid of their pasts from their hearts and learn to live in peace. It is written in the Bible that “the God sent us the Life and the Death but we chose the Life.” Turks and Armenians, as neighbors, have to live in peace by helping each other. This World does not need people like Topalian who has no regard for humanity and would carry-out crimes against other people that he hates at any cost no matter what the circumstances or the results are.

Etruks TÜRKER*
Review of ARMENIAN STUDIES, Number 3, Volume 1 - 2003

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