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To: Congressman Howard L. Berman
2221 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-4695 Fax: (202) 225-3196
&
14546 Hamlin Street, Suite 202, Van Nuys, CA 91411
Phone: (818) 994-7200 Fax: (818) 994-1050
Re: The Armenian lobby recently deceived you into meeting with the above terrorist!
Dear Congressman Berman:
How does it look to ordinary American on the main street that at a time when our nation is engaged in a global war on terrorism, you should meet with a notorious, convicted terrorist right here at home?
Former Chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) and now described as an "activist" by ANCA, Mr. Mourad Topalian . . was convicted in 2001 of federal crimes relating to terrorism and received a prison sentence of 37 months plus three years of supervised release - see: United States v. Mourad Topalian, Case No. 1:99, CR 358, http://www.fbi. gov/publications /terror/terror20 00_2001.htm. In particular, he was found to have possessed explosives linked to a 1980 bombing in New York City. Federal Marshals discovered that for decades after, he stored machine guns and explosives at a storage locker dangerously near a daycare center, a school and gas station.
I am profoundly concerned that you-and possibly other Members of Congress and other elected U.S. officials-perhaps unwittingly, have been hosting meetings with known terrorists.
I realize and appreciate the fact that, as an elected official, one of your functions is to meet with constituent groups, you shake hands with hundreds of voters daily, and there is no way you can check the background of each and every person you are meeting. Granted. This letter, therefore, is not targeted at your honor or integrity, but those of others who surround you to the degree of suffocating you and who deliberately choose to "sneak in" "shady characters" into your personal space under the guise of "activist".
I am referring to The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), which apparently has endorsed Mr. Topalian's terrorist past and has been giving him prominence in meetings with Members of Congress. These meetings, according to ANCA press releases and web postings [see: http://www.armtown. com/news/ en/pan/20080228/ 25124/ and
http://www.panarmen ian.net/news/ eng/?nid= 25124 ], are aimed at influencing U.S. policy to turn against its allies in Eurasia (Turkey) the Caucasus (Azerbaijan. )
Moreover, such "meetings" steer clear not only of Mr. Topalian's heinous hate crimes, but also of the crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Armenian military regime in the occupied lands of Azerbaijan-especially the Khojaly massacre of 1992.
Nor do such "meetings" address the crippled democracy in Armenia where, as demonstrated in the recent elections, at least 8 protestors were killed and scores injured and arrested on March 1. (Here is the New York Times editorial "Dark Days in Armenia", March 7, 2008: http://www.nytimes. com/2008/ 03/07/opinion/ 07fri2.html .)
Since convicted felons and known terrorists are denied the right to vote in the U.S. by law, I feel, when the likes of Mr. Topalian come to lobby Members of Congress and other government officials, the least their sponsors should do is honestly disclose their true identity/background and ask for the elected official's permission to bring them into the meeting. This would help avoid damage to the credibility and image of the Representatives and Senators such they are visiting. Indeed, American foreign policy decisions should not be made on advice from such dangerous felons and terrorists as Mr Topalian or hate-mongering lobbyists like ANCA.
PLEASE, If you are contacted by the Armenian National Committee the next time, ask them to disclose in writing prior to such meeting, "if any in the group scheduled to meet with you has ever been involved in terrorism, hate crimes, or other such felonies against Turks, Azerbaijanis, Georgians, and/or others."
ANCA and its affiliates have been known to parade others in criminal separatist military regimes, like Messrs. Bako Sahakyan, Arkady Gukasyan, Ashot Gulian, Georgy Petrossian and others, whose crimes against humanity victimized innocent Azerbaijani civilians in 1988-1994. These terrorists still "thumb their noses" at international law and are paraded up and down the halls of the U.S. Congress by ANCA.
Two other ANCA leaders, Viken Hovsepian and Viken Yacoubian were granted U.S. citizenship not long ago, despite having been convicted of terrorist crimes. During their citizenship appeals, the FBI testified that if their 1982 conspiracy to bomb a building in Philadelphia succeeded, the number of deaths could have been a staggering 2,000 - 3,000. [U.S. v. Hovsepian, 307 F.3d 922 (9th Cir. 2002)].
For ANCA, apparently it is all too easy to embrace those who commit terrorist crimes on U.S. soil. Please say "No!" to terrorists and convicted felons from among the Armenian special interest groups.
Reconciliation between Turks and Armenians will come from more research and dialog, not through the monstrous acts of Armenian terrorists and fraudulent acts of hate-based Armenian lobby groups, or ill-informed political resolutions they design, pen, and ram through the system. The Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan has recently reiterated the need to focus on more research and dialogue among the scholars, repeating his 2005 proposal to Armenia-which is yet to be accepted by the Armenians. And this strange Armenian reluctance for open debate may be understood from the following : Brian Ardouny of the Armenian Assembly of America, in a videotaped interview for a documentary on the Armenian Revolt clucked: "We don't need to prove the genocide historically, because it has already been accepted politically. "
Congress should reject that cynicism in defense of historical truth. [1]
Please, the next time you feel like taking the Armenians' word for anything-much less meeting infamous Armenian terrorists-you might wish to check with a world map to see how prominently Turkey is positioned: smack in the epi-center of that resourceful tri-continental area much larger than the United States, encompassing the Balkans, the Caucasus, the Middle East, with silk route to Turkic Central Asia and energy lines from there .
And if anyone tells you that you can freely continue to insult and defame Turks, such as with your ill-advised support for the bogus Armenian genocide, and still go to Turkey when needed, to ask for their cooperation in Iraq, or Afghanistan, or Iran, or Russia, or Arab-Israeli conflict, or Lebanon, or Kosovo, or elsewhere, then please ask to get a second opinion, because someone is deceiving you again.
Thank you for your consideration.
3/11/2008
In an apparent motion of condoning a convicted felon who U.S. authorities linked to at least four terrorist attacks, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) included Mourad Topalian prominently in its recent meetings with Members of Congress. According to ANCA press releases and other Armenian web sites, last week Topalian was part of an ANCA-Western Region delegation visit to Capitol Hill.
About Mourad Topalian
In the indictment, Federal authorities connected Topalian to at least four terrorist attacks on U.S. soil: the October 12, 1980 bombing at the U.N. Plaza in New York City; the June 3, 1981 bombing at the Anaheim Convention Center in Los Angeles; the November 20, 1981 bombing of the Turkish Consulate building in Beverly Hills; and the October 22, 1982, attempted assassination of the Turkish Honorary Consul`s office building in Philadelphia.
Topalian was a leader in the Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide (JCAG), the militant wing of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), for which ANCA serves as foreign agent in the United States. According to the indictment, Topalian recruited bombers and assassins from Armenian American youth, and provided weapons demonstrations at Armenian Youth Federation summer camps in Franklin, Massachusetts. He also sent Armenian youth to Beirut to train in weapons and explosive tactics.
U.S. Marshals uncovered Topalian`s unsavory past when they connected him to a storage locker in Bedford, Ohio that hid moldering high explosives as well as machine guns and ammunition. The storage locker was just 250 feet from a children`s day care center and also dangerously close to a gas station, elementary school and public highway. Federal authorities estimated that had the explosives ignited, the explosion would have killed at least 500 people, mostly children and highway drivers.
Topalian eagerly pleaded guilty to a three-year prison sentence and three years of further supervised release -- a plea bargain that would not have been accepted if it had been made after the attacks of September 11, 2001. United States v. Mourad Topalian, Case No. 1:99, CR 358, www.fbi.org. The ATAA appeared at Topalian`s sentencing hearing and submitted a Victim`s Impact Statement with supporting affidavits of victims of Armenian terrorism and hate crimes. The Victims Impact Statement, prepared and delivered by Constitutional Law expert Bruce Fein, and International Law Fulbright Scholar and ATAA President-Elect, Gunay Evinch, is available at www.ataa.org.
About Armenian Terrorism
Since 1974, Armenian terrorists have committed over 230 attacks, killing over 70 and seriously injuring over 550 innocent people, as well as causing hundreds of millions of dollars in property damage worldwide, including in the United States. ANCA apparently feels no remorse for these crimes committed in the name of anti-Turkish hatred. In 1982, ANCA-WR Representative Leon Kirakosian condemned the efforts of the FBI to arrest Armenian terrorists as "dirty work against the Armenian people."
Two main groups compose the Armenian terror network: the Marxist, Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) and the ultranationalist JCAG. Both ASALA and JCAG have claimed responsibility for mentioned attacks.
ANCA Today
In 2000, ANCA presented Mourad Topalian with the "Freedom Award" for his "dedication to advancing the Armenian cause," praising his "unique brand of leadership in driving forward and promoting Armenian history and the cause of the Armenian nation." Unique indeed. ANCA`s adulation of Topalian did not cease after his conviction. ANCA sponsored charity events in honor of his legal defense fund and later welcomed him back into the fold without a word of public censure.
ANCA`s condoning of Topalian`s crimes and Armenian terrorism present a grave concern to American society. The legitimization of violence and hate crimes by some Armenian organizations and by Armenia, who recruits former JCAG and ASALA terrorists to its military and militias in western Azerbaijan, creates a chilling effect on dialogue, and should be carefully monitored by the authorities and policy makers.
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