Topalyan, Murad

Murad Topalyan is known as a prominent figure in the Armenian diaspora in the United States. ^[1] He chaired the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) , an organization that defends Armenian interests and is affiliated with ARF Dashnaktsutyun. ^[6] According to US News & World Report , Topalyan “was well known in the corridors of Congress and met with President Bill Clinton several times ” ^[7] In 1999, Murad Topalyan moved to Cleveland and took the post of vice president of Kayahogi College ( Ohio ) ^[7] . In 1999, federal charges were brought against him, known as the United States v. Murad Topalian case (US vs. Mourad Topalian, Case No. 1:99 CR 35). Topalyan resigned from his post as chairman of the ANCA ^{[8] [7]} .

Investigation against Murad Topalyan

The investigation against Topalyan began with the discovery in 1996 of weapons and explosives in a private storage room in a suburb of Bedford ( Ohio ) ^{[6] [2]} . The premises were opened after a six-month delay in paying rent (Topalyan rented a unit since 1980). Police found a weapon and 100 pounds of spoiled explosives in it ^{[2] [3]} . Several fragments of hair were found in the room. A DNA analysis of these fragments, carried out in 1999, showed a match with the DNA of Murad Topalyan ^{[9] [3]} During the arrest, Topalyan was suspected by the FBI of being the leader of the terrorist group Justice for Genocide and participating in the attack on the Turkish mission at the UN in New York ^[7] .

Indictment

In the 1970s, a series of terrorist attacks were launched against Turkish officials, organized by Armenian nationalists, who were unhappy that Turkey did not recognize the Armenian genocide . 160 explosions took place around the world and 32 Turkish diplomats, as well as members of their families, were killed ^[7] . Terror weakened by the mid-1980s, but many attacks remained unsolved ^[7] . Topalian was accused of plotting terrorist attacks against Turkish targets in the United States for two decades ^[1] and was suspected of involvement in two 1981 California bombings against the Orange County Congress Center in Anaheim and the Turkish Consulate in Beverly Hills (California) ^{[1] [7]} . From 1976 to 1996, Topalian allegedly led or directly participated in bombings in New York, Anaheim and Beverly Hills, the robbery of munition factories and the illegal purchase of a large number of weapons ^[6] . In general, the indictment alleged that Topalyan was involved in a conspiracy, that the accused and other famous and unknown persons formed an “elite group” in order to draw public attention to the 1915 Armenian genocide ^[6] . Key evidence against Topalyan was obtained from two of his former accomplices ^[6] .

According to the indictment, Topalian recruited bombers and murderers ^[6] among US Armenian youth and provided a demonstration of weapons in the summer camps of the Armenian Youth Federation (Dashnaktsutyun Youth Department) in Franklin ( Massachusetts ). As the Ohio federal authorities indicate, this prominent representative of the Armenian diaspora used the camp as a training base for preparing attacks against the Turkish government. Murad Topalyan (“Elk”) showed others how to use weapons, collected and blew up trap mines in 1976 and 1977 ^[6] . Once, in this case, a premature explosion occurred, resulting in injuries to a person. He also sent Armenian youth to Beirut to train in tactics of using weapons and explosives ^{[1] [6]} .

But the most serious accusation against Topalyan was the participation in a car explosion near the building of the Turkish mission at the UN in New York in October 1980, which injured three people. Police suspect that he was involved in the preparation of the explosion and sent a group that stole the weapons and explosives that were later used to carry out the attack ^[1] . From 1979 to 1980, Topalian sent various people to Manhattan to study the buildings that housed the Turkish mission at the UN. Topalyan himself arrived in New York on October 11, 1980 with explosives to attack the Turkish mission . On October 12, 1980, Topalian and his two accomplices detonated a bomb in a car stolen for this, which led to damage to the property of the Turkish mission. As a result of the attack, three passers-by were also wounded ^{[10] [11]} . Topalyan was asked questions about this explosion, but he refused to admit to being a terrorist, although he pleaded guilty to possession of a weapon, which, according to the prosecution, was used in the attack ^[8] .

Topalyan was also charged with ordering a Californian to deliver five dynamite and detonator blocks to Boston in 1982 ^[6] . They were supposed to be used in an explosion in Philadelphia . FBI agents intercepted explosives. According to their testimony, suspect Stephen John Dadyan could have links with the Fighters for Justice ^[6] .

During the process, the Assembly of Turkish-American Associations provided data including a chronology of Armenian terrorist acts in the United States and other countries, as well as testimonies of victims of Armenian terrorism ^[12] .

Sentence

Murad Topalyan was charged in 1999 with terrorist acts, possession and storage of explosives and firearms (possession of machine guns and firearms with deleted serial numbers), as well as their transportation. The bedford vault used by him and his accomplices was not far from an extended-day school, a gas station and office complex, less than 300 feet from a highway with 3,000 cars daily. During the process, the prosecution and the defense reached a guilty plea , according to which conspiracy charges were dropped in exchange for Topalyan's confession of illegal possession of explosives and firearms ^{[13] [7]} . On January 24, 2004, he was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison and 3 years in custody. ^[7]

In 2000 , the ANCA awarded Topalyan the Freedom Award for its “contribution to the advancement of the Armenian cause” and its “unique activity dedicated to the Armenian history and the Armenian nation” ^[8] .

• Terrorism of Armenian Nationalists
• Dashnaktsutyun
• Fighters for justice regarding the Armenian Genocide
• Armenian National Committee of America
• Armenian Diaspora
• Armenians in the USA
• Armenian Genocide

UN bomb attack suspect faces jail term . The Independent. January 24, 2001