3782) With What Money Did The Terrorist Jean-Marc "Ara" Toranian Create "Les Nouvelles D'arménie Magazine" In 1993?

by Maxime Gauin
20 Feb 2022

 

 

Markar Melkonian (brother of terrorist rises Melkonian , who was number 2 of the Armenian Secret Army for the liberation of Armenia from 1980 to 1983; he closely followed all the activities of his brother without taking part in them), My Brother's Road , London-New York, IB Tauris, 2007, p. 159:

“ [Hagop] Hagopian [co-founder of ASALA, engaged in a vendetta with Monte Melkonian and his followers after the July 1983 split] was therefore dead [April 28, 1988] . […]

Monte's cheerful mood darkens, however, when his old comrade Ara Toranian visited him at [the prison of] Poissy and told him that Hay Baykar [newspaper of ASALA in France until August 1983, then dissidents from the ASALA-Revolutionary Movement] was going to stop appearing. Just a few years earlier, thousands of demonstrators had marched under the banner of the group formed around this leaf. But since the attack d'Orly [chronology error: the decline of Mr. Toranian's group was gradual and the attack at Orly was none the less only one stage among others] , the group had lost members, even if it had tried to pay the lawyers for Monte and other activists arrested. Now, the crates were empty , and Hagopian's death finally provided the excuse to stop publishing the newspaper. »

. . .

 

General information from the Paris police headquarters, Report of demonstrations, April 19 1986, Archives of the Paris police headquarters, box BA 2329:

“[…] Mr. Jean-Marc Toranian, known as “Ara”, born February 20, 1954, in Boulogne-Billancourt (Hauts-de-Seine), domiciled with his parents […]”

 

General information from the Paris police headquarters, "The Armenian diaspora ready to help Armenia, but under conditions”, February 21, 1992, same card:

"If all the political tendencies of the diaspora recognize the honesty of the goodwill of President Levon TER PETROSSIAN, they are wary of the most of the new members of the government and leaders of the regime, “who are in fact only former aparatchiks of the communist regime, accustomed to take advantage of their prerogatives to enrich themselves, and who intend to continue under another label.”

The traditional parties of the diaspora [in particular the Armenian Revolutionary Federation] , poorly represented in Parliament Armenian, call for the elaboration of a new Constitution and new parliamentary elections, which are more representative, especially since they were able reopen hotlines in Armenia.

Faced with this resistance from the historic parties of the diaspora, the former members of the Communist Party, now members of the “National Movement Armenian” try to circumvent the problem by creating new associations and more malleable organizations.

[…]

It is also necessary to place in this context the new activity of Mr. Jean-Marc TORANIAN, and activists from his former movement, the “Mouvement Armenian National” [political branch of the ASALA until 1983, not to be confused with the MNA of Armenia] , disappeared since February 1989, who, although, according to the statements of his officials, no relationship with the ruling party in Armenia, because of its titled, always leaves room for ambiguity. So they created a “Franco-Armenian Press and Communication Association”, which aims to “strengthen the friendship of the French and Armenian peoples […] with means of radio broadcasting and all other audiovisual means”. The activists of this organization are currently trying to take control of the radio Armenian in the Paris region, “radio AYP FM”, controlled by the party “Dachnaktzoutioun” [i.e. the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, whose door Mr. Toranian slammed in 1973] . »

This attempt to take over AYP FM failed. Mr. Toranian therefore returned to the written press the following year.

Finally, let us note — and without, of course, drawing conclusions peremptories of this observation — that, until further notice, Mr. Toranian is the only figure of Armenian nationalism, in the diaspora, which is not frankly hostile to the Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, even though the latter has – with difficulty – committed to the path of peace with Azerbaijan and Turkey since November 2020 and even more so since its electoral victory in June 2021.

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Source (in French)
Google Translated

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