| Revision as of 22:00, 8 March 2013 editAddbot (talk | contribs)Bots2,838,809 editsm Bot: Migrating 3 interwiki links, now provided by Wikidata on d:q2074796← Previous edit | Latest revision as of 19:49, 23 March 2024 edit undoQuetzalquill (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users946 editsm expanded citation details | ||
| (28 intermediate revisions by 22 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| {{Short description|Armenian-American activist}} | |||
| {{use mdy dates |date=March 2024}} | |||
| {{Infobox criminal | {{Infobox criminal | ||
| | name = Mourad Topalian | | name = Mourad Topalian | ||
| Line 8: | Line 10: | ||
| | death_date = | | death_date = | ||
| | death_place = | | death_place = | ||
| | cause = |
| cause = | ||
| | alias = |
| alias = | ||
| | motive = The recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the establishment of an independent Armenia | | motive = The recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the establishment of an independent Armenia | ||
| | conviction = Conspiracy acts, possession, storage of explosives and firearms | | conviction = Conspiracy acts, possession, storage of explosives and firearms | ||
| Line 20: | Line 22: | ||
| }} | }} | ||
| '''Mourad Topalian''' is a prominent ] political activist, former chairman of the ] (ANCA), who visited the ] several times.<ref>US ACCUSES PRO-ARMENIA GROUP'S CHIEF OF BOMB PLOT |
'''Mourad Topalian''' (born 1943) is a prominent ] political activist, former chairman of the ] (ANCA), who visited the ] several times.<ref>{{Cite news|title=US ACCUSES PRO-ARMENIA GROUP'S CHIEF OF BOMB PLOT|agency=Associated Press|work=Chicago Tribune|date=October 16, 1999|page=13}}</ref> In 1999, Topalian was charged by the United States government with conspiracy acts, possession and storage of weapons and explosives. In 2001, he was convicted of storing stolen explosives and owning two machine guns, sentenced to 37 months in prison and three years of supervised release.<ref name=FBI>{{cite web |url=https://www.fbi.gov/publications/terror/terror2000_2001.htm |publisher=] |title=Terrorism 2000/2001 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20040915021652/https://www.fbi.gov/publications/terror/terror2000_2001.htm |archive-date=15 September 2004}}</ref><ref name=kushner>{{Harv|Walton|2006|p=342}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Encyclopedia of Terrorism |encyclopedia= |publisher=SAGE |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOfkAoDb_2IC&pg=PA86 |date=2002|first=Harvey W.|last=Kushner |author-link=Harvey Kushner |page=86 |isbn=978-0-7619-2408-1 }}</ref> | ||
| ==Biography== | ==Biography== | ||
| Topalian is known as a prominent member of the Armenian community in the USA.<ref name=AP161199/> He was the president of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), which is an organization with an office in Washington that serves as an advocate on Armenian issues and is an affiliate of ]. His involvement with ANCA began in 1976. Topalian was also known by the nickname "Moose." | |||
| Topalian visited the White House on a number of occasions to discuss Armenian related issues.<ref name=AP161199/><ref> |
Topalian visited the White House on a number of occasions to discuss Armenian related issues.<ref name=AP161199/><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.arf.am/English/ARFNews/1999/199910.htm|title=Statement of the Armenian National Committee of America|publisher=ARF News|access-date=2009-05-27|archive-date=2008-06-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080612202405/http://www.arf.am/English/ARFNews/1999/199910.htm|url-status=dead|date=19 October 1999}}</ref> According to '']'', "tall and charismatic", Topalian "was well known in the halls of Congress and had met with President ] a half-dozen times."<ref name=usnews>{{Cite news|url=https://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/010205/archive_005996.htm|work=U.S. News & World Report|title=Following Terror's Forgotten Trail. An explosives case raises ghosts of a bloody past|first=David E. |last=Kaplan|date=2001-01-28|access-date=2017-09-05|archive-date=2011-02-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110201233420/http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/010205/archive_005996.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> | ||
| In 1999, Mourad Topalian moved to Cleveland and took a job as vice president of ].<ref name=usnews/> | In 1999, Mourad Topalian moved to Cleveland and took a job as vice president of ].<ref name=usnews/> | ||
| The federal charges against him were filed in 1999, under United States v. Mourad Topalian, Case No. 1:99 CR 35. Topalian resigned from his post at the ANCA.<ref name=laweekly> |
The federal charges against him were filed in 1999, under United States v. Mourad Topalian, Case No. 1:99 CR 35. Topalian resigned from his post at the ANCA.<ref name=laweekly>{{Cite news|url=http://www.laweekly.com/2006-06-15/news/the-filthiest-48-hours/1|title=The Filthiest 48 Hours|work= LA Weekly |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20110525234507/http://www.laweekly.com/2006-06-15/news/the-filthiest-48-hours/1/ |archive-date=25 May 2011}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=March 2024|reason=Article does not mention Topalian}} For many of Topalian's "alleged" compatriots he was not to be charged because of the expired statute of limitations.<ref name=usnews/> This was not applicable for the crimes of "holding the explosives", which Topalian was initially charged with.<ref name=usnews/> | ||
| === US vs. Mourad Topalian === | === US vs. Mourad Topalian === | ||
| The investigation against Topalian began with the 1996 discovery of weapons and explosives in a suburban ] ] facility. The storage unit was opened after rent went unpaid for six months (Topalian had been renting that space since 1980). Inside, police found guns and 100 pounds of decaying explosives in the storage facility.<ref name=FBI/><ref name=kushner/> Several evidentiary hair fragments were collected from the locker. DNA analysis of the fragments in 1999 matched their profile to that of the leader of a militant<ref> |
The investigation against Topalian began with the 1996 discovery of weapons and explosives in a suburban ] ] facility. The storage unit was opened after rent went unpaid for six months (Topalian had been renting that space since 1980). Inside, police found guns and 100 pounds of decaying explosives in the storage facility.<ref name=FBI/><ref name=kushner/> Several evidentiary hair fragments were collected from the locker. DNA analysis of the fragments in 1999 matched their profile to that of the leader of a militant<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.forensicmag.com/articles.asp?pid=271|title=Mitochondrial DNA Examination of Cold Case Crime Scene Hairs|first=Terry |last=Melton|work=Forensic Magazine|issue=April/May 2009|access-date=2009-06-07|archive-date=2009-06-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090603194649/http://www.forensicmag.com/articles.asp?pid=271|url-status=dead|date=2009}}</ref> group, Mourad Topalian.<ref name=kushner/> At the time of his arrest, Topalian was accused as a suspected leader of the ] and a participant of 1980 bombing of the Turkish Mission in New York City.<ref name=usnews/> | ||
| He received recognition from ANCA for driving forward and promoting ] and the cause of the ].<ref name=laweekly/> | He received recognition from ANCA for driving forward and promoting ] and the cause of the ].<ref name=laweekly/> | ||
| ====Indictment==== | ====Indictment==== | ||
| In the 1970s, a wave of attacks fell upon Turkish officials, engineered by Armenian ] furious over Turkish ]. The attacks included 160 bombings and assassinations of 32 Turkish diplomats (or members of their family/staff) worldwide.<ref>Michael M. Gunter |
In the 1970s, a wave of attacks fell upon Turkish officials, engineered by Armenian ] furious over Turkish ]. The attacks included 160 bombings and assassinations of 32 Turkish diplomats (or members of their family/staff) worldwide.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Michael M. |last=Gunter|title="Pursuing the Just Cause of their People": A Study of Contemporary Armenian Terrorism|location=Westport-New York-London|publisher=Greenwood Press|date=1986|pages=43–44 |isbn=9780313252471}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|first=Francis P. |last=Hyland|title=Armenian Terrorism: The Past, the Present, the Prospects|location=Boulder-Jerusalem|publisher=Westview Press|date=1991|isbn=9780813381244}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|first=Bilâl |last=Simsir|title=Sehit Diplomatarimiz|location=Ankara|publisher=Bilgi Yayinevi|date=2000}}</ref> The attacks ebbed by the mid-1980s, but many of them went unsolved.<ref name=usnews/> Topalian was accused of plotting attacks against Turkish targets in the United States for two decades,<ref name=AP161199>{{Cite news|title=US accuses pro-Armenia group's chief of bomb plot|agency=Associated Press|work=Chicago Tribune|date=October 16, 1999|page=13}}</ref> and was suspected of links to two 1981 bombings in ], against the ] in ] and the Turkish consulate in ].<ref name=AP161199/><ref name=usnews/> Between 1976 and 1996, Topalian allegedly ordered or was involved directly in bombings in New York and Anaheim and Beverly Hills, California, the robbery of munitions factories, and the illegal purchase of numerous high-powered weapons.<ref name=globe161199/> Overall, the indictment alleged that Topalian was "a part of the conspiracy that the defendant and others both known and unknown formed an 'elite group' of individuals in order to bring publicity and attention to the Armenian genocide of 1915, commonly referred to as 'the Cause,' " prosecutors said in court papers.<ref name=globe161199/> Key evidence against Topalian, came from two of his former allies.<ref name=globe161199/> | ||
| According to the ], Topalian recruited bombers and assassins from Armenian American youth, and provided weapons demonstrations at ] summer camps in ]. According to federal authorities in Ohio, a prominent Armenian-American once used the camp as a training ground for terrorism aimed at the Turkish government. Mourad "Moose" Topalian showed others how to use submachine guns and built and exploded ] |
According to the ], Topalian recruited bombers and assassins from Armenian American youth, and provided weapons demonstrations at ] summer camps in ]. According to federal authorities in Ohio, a prominent Armenian-American once used the camp as a training ground for terrorism aimed at the Turkish government. Mourad "Moose" Topalian showed others how to use submachine guns and built and exploded ] – one went off prematurely, injuring a person – in 1976 and 1977. He also sent Armenian youth to ] to train in weapons and explosive tactics.<ref name=AP161199/><ref name=globe161199>{{Cite news|work=The Boston Globe|title=Armenian-American site in Franklin named Camp was allegedly used for terrorist training|first=John |last=Ellement|date=October 16, 1999}}</ref> | ||
| But the most serious charge against Topalian was that of involvement in a car bombing that injured three people outside the Turkish Mission to the ] in |
But the most serious charge against Topalian was that of involvement in a car bombing that injured three people outside the Turkish Mission to the ] in New York City in October 1980. Police suspect that he helped arrange the bombing and directed a group that stole weapons and explosives used for the attack.<ref name=AP161199/> Between 1979 and 1980, Topalian directed various individuals to travel to ], New York, 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.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Activist charged with being head of bomb group|work=News & Observer|location=Raleigh, North Carolina|date=October 16, 1999|page=A.8}}</ref> Topalian was questioned about the New York bombing and denied he was a terrorist but agreed to plead guilty to storing the weapons, which prosecutors said were used in the Turkish Mission bombing.<ref name=laweekly/> | ||
| Topalian also was accused of ordering a California man to bring five sticks of ] and blasting caps to ] in 1982 that were to be used in a bombing in ]. FBI agents intercepted the explosives and said the suspect, ], may have had ties to the ].<ref name=globe161199/> | Topalian also was accused of ordering a California man to bring five sticks of ] and blasting caps to ] in 1982 that were to be used in a bombing in ]. FBI agents intercepted the explosives and said the suspect, ], may have had ties to the ].<ref name=globe161199/> | ||
| The ] presented a file during the sentencing hearing, including "a chronology of Armenian terrorist acts, in USA and elsewhere, and affidavit of Armenian terrorism's victims".<ref>http://www.ataa.org/reference/topalian/</ref> | The ] presented a file during the sentencing hearing, including "a chronology of Armenian terrorist acts, in USA and elsewhere, and affidavit of Armenian terrorism's victims".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ataa.org/reference/topalian/ |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20150810075038/https://www.ataa.org/reference/topalian/ |archive-date=10 August 2015 |title=Armenian Terrorism: The Case of Mourad Topallian and the JCAG Terror Group |website=Assembly of Turkish American Associations}}</ref> | ||
| ====Conviction==== | ====Conviction==== | ||
| Topalian was charged in October 1999 with conspiracy acts, possession and storage of explosives and firearms (possession of machine guns and possession of firearms with defaced serial numbers), 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 ] 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 dropped by the US Government after the plea-bargaining and his admission of some of the charges.<ref name=tpd120500>{{Cite news|title=Former CCC vice president admits to storing explosives|first=John F. |last=Hagan|work=The Plain Dealer|location=Cleveland, Ohio|date=May 12, 2000|page= 1.A}}</ref> Topalian denied he was a terrorist, and agreed to plead guilty only to storing the weapons. Topalian reached an agreement with prosecutors in 2001, pleading guilty to charges of storing illegal explosives and owning two machine guns, and was sentenced to 37 months in prison.<ref name=usnews/> | |||
| == International issues == | |||
| {{Empty section|date=July 2010}} | |||
| == Awards == | == Awards == | ||
| In 2000, ANCA presented Topalian with the "Freedom Award" for his "dedication to advancing the Armenian cause, |
In 2000, ANCA presented Topalian with the "Freedom Award" for his "dedication to advancing the Armenian cause", and his "unique brand of leadership in driving forward and promoting Armenian history and the cause of the Armenian nation."<ref name=laweekly/> | ||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
| Line 61: | Line 59: | ||
| == Bibliography == | == Bibliography == | ||
| {{cite book | *{{cite book | ||
| |last = Walton | |last = Walton | ||
| |first = Richard H. | |first = Richard H. | ||
| Line 71: | Line 69: | ||
| }} | }} | ||
| ==External links== | |||
| * . The Independent. 24 January 2001 | |||
| {{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see ]. --> | |||
| | NAME = Topalian, Mourad | |||
| | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | |||
| | SHORT DESCRIPTION = American-Armenian activist | |||
| | DATE OF BIRTH = 1943 | |||
| | PLACE OF BIRTH = | |||
| | DATE OF DEATH = | |||
| | PLACE OF DEATH = | |||
| }} | |||
| {{DEFAULTSORT:Topalian, Mourad}} | {{DEFAULTSORT:Topalian, Mourad}} | ||
| ] | ] | ||
| Line 89: | Line 74: | ||
| ] | ] | ||
| ] | ] | ||
| ] | |||
Latest revision as of 19:49, 23 March 2024
Armenian-American activist
| Mourad Topalian | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1943 |
| Spouse | Arpi Topalian |
| Motive | The recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the establishment of an independent Armenia |
| Conviction(s) | Conspiracy acts, possession, storage of explosives and firearms |
| Criminal penalty | Served less than 3 years in a minimum security facility |
Mourad Topalian (born 1943) is a prominent Armenian-American political activist, former chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), who visited the White House several times. In 1999, Topalian was charged by the United States government with conspiracy acts, possession and storage of weapons and explosives. In 2001, he was convicted of storing stolen explosives and owning two machine guns, sentenced to 37 months in prison and three years of supervised release.
Biography
Topalian is known as a prominent member of the Armenian community in the USA. He was the president of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), which is an organization with an office in Washington that serves as an advocate on Armenian issues and is an affiliate of Armenian Revolutionary Federation. His involvement with ANCA began in 1976. Topalian was also known by the nickname "Moose."
Topalian visited the White House on a number of occasions to discuss Armenian related issues. According to US News, "tall and charismatic", Topalian "was well known in the halls of Congress and had met with President Bill Clinton a half-dozen times."
In 1999, Mourad Topalian moved to Cleveland and took a job as vice president of Cuyahoga Community College.
The federal charges against him were filed in 1999, under United States v. Mourad Topalian, Case No. 1:99 CR 35. Topalian resigned from his post at the ANCA. For many of Topalian's "alleged" compatriots he was not to be charged because of the expired statute of limitations. This was not applicable for the crimes of "holding the explosives", which Topalian was initially charged with.
US vs. Mourad Topalian
The investigation against Topalian began with the 1996 discovery of weapons and explosives in a suburban Bedford, Ohio self storage facility. The storage unit was opened after rent went unpaid for six months (Topalian had been renting that space since 1980). Inside, police found guns and 100 pounds of decaying explosives in the storage facility. Several evidentiary hair fragments were collected from the locker. DNA analysis of the fragments in 1999 matched their profile to that of the leader of a militant group, Mourad Topalian. At the time of his arrest, Topalian was accused as a suspected leader of the Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide and a participant of 1980 bombing of the Turkish Mission in New York City.
He received recognition from ANCA for driving forward and promoting Armenian history and the cause of the Armenian nation.
Indictment
In the 1970s, a wave of attacks fell upon Turkish officials, engineered by Armenian groups furious over Turkish denial of Armenian Genocide. The attacks included 160 bombings and assassinations of 32 Turkish diplomats (or members of their family/staff) worldwide. The attacks ebbed by the mid-1980s, but many of them went unsolved. Topalian was accused of plotting attacks against Turkish targets in the United States for two decades, and was suspected of links to two 1981 bombings in California, against the Orange County Convention Center in Anaheim and the Turkish consulate in Beverly Hills. Between 1976 and 1996, Topalian allegedly ordered or was involved directly in bombings in New York and Anaheim and Beverly Hills, California, the robbery of munitions factories, and the illegal purchase of numerous high-powered weapons. Overall, the indictment alleged that Topalian was "a part of the conspiracy that the defendant and others both known and unknown formed an 'elite group' of individuals in order to bring publicity and attention to the Armenian genocide of 1915, commonly referred to as 'the Cause,' " prosecutors said in court papers. Key evidence against Topalian, came from two of his former allies.
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. According to federal authorities in Ohio, a prominent Armenian-American once used the camp as a training ground for terrorism aimed at the Turkish government. Mourad "Moose" Topalian showed others how to use submachine guns and built and exploded booby traps – one went off prematurely, injuring a person – in 1976 and 1977. He also sent Armenian youth to Beirut to train in weapons and explosive tactics.
But the most serious charge against Topalian was that of involvement in a car bombing that injured three people outside the Turkish Mission to the United Nations in New York City in October 1980. Police suspect that he helped arrange the bombing and directed a group that stole weapons and explosives used for the attack. Between 1979 and 1980, Topalian directed various individuals to travel to Manhattan, New York, 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 was questioned about the New York bombing and denied he was a terrorist but agreed to plead guilty to storing the weapons, which prosecutors said were used in the Turkish Mission bombing.
Topalian also was accused of ordering a California man to bring five sticks of dynamite and blasting caps to Boston in 1982 that were to be used in a bombing in Philadelphia. FBI agents intercepted the explosives and said the suspect, Steven John Dadian, may have had ties to the Justice Commandos.
The Assembly of Turkish American Associations presented a file during the sentencing hearing, including "a chronology of Armenian terrorist acts, in USA and elsewhere, and affidavit of Armenian terrorism's victims".
Conviction
Topalian was charged in October 1999 with conspiracy acts, possession and storage of explosives and firearms (possession of machine guns and possession of firearms with defaced serial numbers), 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 dropped by the US Government after the plea-bargaining and his admission of some of the charges. Topalian denied he was a terrorist, and agreed to plead guilty only to storing the weapons. Topalian reached an agreement with prosecutors in 2001, pleading guilty to charges of storing illegal explosives and owning two machine guns, and was sentenced to 37 months in prison.
Awards
In 2000, ANCA presented Topalian with the "Freedom Award" for his "dedication to advancing the Armenian cause", and his "unique brand of leadership in driving forward and promoting Armenian history and the cause of the Armenian nation."
References
- "US ACCUSES PRO-ARMENIA GROUP'S CHIEF OF BOMB PLOT". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. October 16, 1999. p. 13.
- ^ "Terrorism 2000/2001". Federal Bureau of Investigation. Archived from the original on September 15, 2004.
- ^ (Walton 2006, p. 342)
- Kushner, Harvey W. (2002). Encyclopedia of Terrorism. SAGE. p. 86. ISBN 978-0-7619-2408-1.
- ^ "US accuses pro-Armenia group's chief of bomb plot". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. October 16, 1999. p. 13.
- "Statement of the Armenian National Committee of America". ARF News. October 19, 1999. Archived from the original on June 12, 2008. Retrieved May 27, 2009.
- ^ Kaplan, David E. (January 28, 2001). "Following Terror's Forgotten Trail. An explosives case raises ghosts of a bloody past". U.S. News & World Report. Archived from the original on February 1, 2011. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
- ^ "The Filthiest 48 Hours". LA Weekly. Archived from the original on May 25, 2011.
- Melton, Terry (2009). "Mitochondrial DNA Examination of Cold Case Crime Scene Hairs". Forensic Magazine. No. April/May 2009. Archived from the original on June 3, 2009. Retrieved June 7, 2009.
- Gunter, Michael M. (1986). "Pursuing the Just Cause of their People": A Study of Contemporary Armenian Terrorism. Westport-New York-London: Greenwood Press. pp. 43–44. ISBN 9780313252471.
- Hyland, Francis P. (1991). Armenian Terrorism: The Past, the Present, the Prospects. Boulder-Jerusalem: Westview Press. ISBN 9780813381244.
- Simsir, Bilâl (2000). "Sehit Diplomatarimiz". Ankara: Bilgi Yayinevi.
- ^ Ellement, John (October 16, 1999). "Armenian-American site in Franklin named Camp was allegedly used for terrorist training". The Boston Globe.
- "Activist charged with being head of bomb group". News & Observer. Raleigh, North Carolina. October 16, 1999. p. A.8.
- "Armenian Terrorism: The Case of Mourad Topallian and the JCAG Terror Group". Assembly of Turkish American Associations. Archived from the original on August 10, 2015.
- Hagan, John F. (May 12, 2000). "Former CCC vice president admits to storing explosives". The Plain Dealer. Cleveland, Ohio. p. 1.A.
Bibliography
- Walton, Richard H. (2006). Cold Case Homicides: Practical Investigative Techniques. Law. CRC Press. ISBN 978-0-8493-2209-9.