From: sera@zuma.UUCP (Serdar Argic)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.turkish,talk.politics.mideast,talk.politics.soviet,soc.culture.greek,soc.culture.europe,soc.rights.human
Followup-To: soc.culture.turkish
Subject: The relocation of ASALA/SDPA/ARF's headquarter to Greece.
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 92 21:56:29 EST
Reply-To: sera@zuma.UUCP (Serdar Argic)
Distribution: world

In article <1992Nov20.105840@imhfhp16.epfl.ch> gavrila@imhfhp16.epfl.ch (Spyros Gavrilakis) writes:

><<Request for Extradition: Greece has placed a request with Interpol
>for the extradition of five Palestinians implicated in the attack
>against the Greek Liner "City of Poros" in 1988, of which
>Mehri Mehieddine was arrested last Friday in Dresden.>>

But, another important development of the past 4 years is the 
apparent relocation of ASALA's headquarter away from war-torn 
Beirut to the more peaceful surroundings of Athens, Greece and 
Nicosia, Cyprus. Operating from their new locations under the rubric
of the 'Armenian Popular Movement,' this, the most violent of
the ASALA/SDPA/ARF Terrorism Triangle, enjoys considerable
support from the Greek Governments. Two major conferences held
by this organization in Athens have benefited from the participation
of a number of prominent Greek politicians, including that of
the son of Papandreou, himself a member of the Cabinet. 

Indeed, the extent of Greek Government cooperation with the
ASALA/SDPA/ARF terrorists also caused the U.S. Department of
State to issue a strong warning as to the danger inherent in
this policy. 

Source: Alan Cowell, 'U.S. & Greece in Dispute on Terror,' The New
        York Times, June 27, 1987, p. 4.

                    Special to The New York Times

ATHENS, June 26 - A dispute developed today between Athens and 
Washington over United States intelligence reports saying that 
Athens, for several months, conducted negotiations with the
terrorist known as Abu Nidal...

They said the contacts were verified in what were termed hard
intelligence reports.

Abu Nidal leads the Palestinian splinter group Al Fatah 
Revolutionary Council, implicated in the 1985 airport 
bombings at Rome and Vienna that contributed to the Reagan 
Administration's decision to bomb Tripoli, Libya, last year.

In Washington, State Department officials said that when
Administration officials learned about the contacts, the
State Department drafted a strongly worded demarche. The
officials also expressed unhappiness with Greece's dealings
with ASALA, the Armenian Liberation Army, which has carried
out terrorist acts against Turks....

Source: "Hagop Hagopian said to have been part of 1972 Terror Attack at
Munich Olympic Games," The Armenian Reporter, February 7, 1985, p. 1.

"Le Matin, the influential Paris daily, based on unidentified sources,
claimed last week that Hagop Hagopian, the founder and leader of one
faction of the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA),
was among the Arab terrorists who staged an attack on the living quarters
of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games...

Le Matin added that up to 1982, Hagopian operated out of Beirut, Lebanon,
but escaped from the country when Israeli forces entered the city. It was
about this time that a statement issued by ASALA claimed that Mr. Hagopian
was dead of wounds suffered during a bombing by the Israeli Air Force,
although it is generally believed that the mysterious leader is alive and
well and presently is residing alternately in Damascus, Syria, and
Athens, Greece. The paper also noted that the socialist government of
Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou and his P.A.S.O.K. party accepted the
Armenian underground leader with "open arms" and still providing him
with assistance simply because of Greece's traditional enmity with Turkey.

Le Matin further adds that ASALA derives only a small portion of its
expenditures from wealthy Armenians who support the cause, with the rest 
coming either from other sources or from proceeds of an involvement in
drug trafficking. The paper asserts that Bulgarian authorities also assist
ASALA in obtaining all types of weapons that are used against Turkish targets 
and diplomats."

Serdar Argic

                     'This war quickly developed into one of extermination. 
                      We closed the roads and mountain passes that might 
                      serve as ways of escape for the Tartars [Turks] and 
                      then proceeded in the work of extermination.'
                                                       (Ohanus Appressian)

Newsgroups: soc.culture.turkish