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CALIFORNIA-BASED ARMENIAN MILITIA SPARKS TURKISH FEARS
by Yigal Schleifer
EurasiaNet.org
Sept 19 2011
NY
Today's edition of the Turkish daily Sabah has a very provocative
scoop. According to the paper, an Armenian group in the United States
is working to revive the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation
of Armenia (ASALA), a terrorist organization that was active in the
1970's and 80's and which was responsible for several fatal attacks
on Turkish diplomats during that period.
ASALA has been dormant since the early 1990's, but the Sabah article
claims to have exclusive information that shows that a neo-ASALA
is being created in rural California by an organization called the
American Armenian Militia. According to the Sabah, the group has some
1,000 members that it is training to be assassins and commandos. The
article also hints that this "neo-ASALA" may be supported by Israel,
in order to punish Turkey for their recent falling out, and that
Turkish Prime Minister will be raising the topic of the group's
activities during his upcoming trip to the United Nations' General
Assembly. All sensational stuff, to be sure. But is it true?
To find out a bit more, I did something the author of the Sabah
article didn't do, which is call the American Armenian Militia (AAM)
for comment. By dialing a toll-free phone number given on the "Contact
Us" page of the group's website, I was able to reach the group's
founder, a 43-year-old electronics engineer in southern California
who, for fear of any more negative publicity, said he only wants to
be referred to as John S.
The Militia, he said, was founded in 2007 and currently has about
20 members, ranging in age from 17 (the youngest age allowed) to
retirement age.
"We're just an Armenian community organization. That's it. What we're
mostly trying to do is get us together and train to be ready in case
there's an earthquake or a disaster happens. We're actually trying
to get in touch with FEMA and get some training from them," says John.
"We're not here to kill innocent people and we're not terrorists. I
don't know what they're talking about comparing us to ASALA. We are
not ASALA."
John says the group has done some light military training, using
rifles legally registered by its members. A photo on the Militia's
website show a silhouetted man holding what looks like an AK-47. "The
little bit of military training that we do is minor stuff. The reason
we do it is if there was a war in Armenia we're the last option left
for Armenia, then we woud go," John says. "We have no problems with
Turkey. We're not here to go to Turkey and start a war or anything."
The question of the alleged support from Israel draws a big laugh
from the militia leader. "We don't deal with the Israelis, with the
Russians, with the PKK. That's so crazy. We're just regular family
people," he says. (Make that "regular family people" who like to
occasionally partake in target practice with AK-47's.)
If anything, the AAM's website makes the group sound very similar to
other American right-wing militias: concerned with supporting gun
rights and with protecting the US from foreign invasion and from
domestic "tyranny," an organization that reflects current American
political trends rather than those back in Turkey and the Caucasus,
which are probably better reflected by the misinformation provided
by Sabah's "scoop."
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/64192
by Yigal Schleifer
EurasiaNet.org
Sept 19 2011
NY
Today's edition of the Turkish daily Sabah has a very provocative
scoop. According to the paper, an Armenian group in the United States
is working to revive the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation
of Armenia (ASALA), a terrorist organization that was active in the
1970's and 80's and which was responsible for several fatal attacks
on Turkish diplomats during that period.
ASALA has been dormant since the early 1990's, but the Sabah article
claims to have exclusive information that shows that a neo-ASALA
is being created in rural California by an organization called the
American Armenian Militia. According to the Sabah, the group has some
1,000 members that it is training to be assassins and commandos. The
article also hints that this "neo-ASALA" may be supported by Israel,
in order to punish Turkey for their recent falling out, and that
Turkish Prime Minister will be raising the topic of the group's
activities during his upcoming trip to the United Nations' General
Assembly. All sensational stuff, to be sure. But is it true?
To find out a bit more, I did something the author of the Sabah
article didn't do, which is call the American Armenian Militia (AAM)
for comment. By dialing a toll-free phone number given on the "Contact
Us" page of the group's website, I was able to reach the group's
founder, a 43-year-old electronics engineer in southern California
who, for fear of any more negative publicity, said he only wants to
be referred to as John S.
The Militia, he said, was founded in 2007 and currently has about
20 members, ranging in age from 17 (the youngest age allowed) to
retirement age.
"We're just an Armenian community organization. That's it. What we're
mostly trying to do is get us together and train to be ready in case
there's an earthquake or a disaster happens. We're actually trying
to get in touch with FEMA and get some training from them," says John.
"We're not here to kill innocent people and we're not terrorists. I
don't know what they're talking about comparing us to ASALA. We are
not ASALA."
John says the group has done some light military training, using
rifles legally registered by its members. A photo on the Militia's
website show a silhouetted man holding what looks like an AK-47. "The
little bit of military training that we do is minor stuff. The reason
we do it is if there was a war in Armenia we're the last option left
for Armenia, then we woud go," John says. "We have no problems with
Turkey. We're not here to go to Turkey and start a war or anything."
The question of the alleged support from Israel draws a big laugh
from the militia leader. "We don't deal with the Israelis, with the
Russians, with the PKK. That's so crazy. We're just regular family
people," he says. (Make that "regular family people" who like to
occasionally partake in target practice with AK-47's.)
If anything, the AAM's website makes the group sound very similar to
other American right-wing militias: concerned with supporting gun
rights and with protecting the US from foreign invasion and from
domestic "tyranny," an organization that reflects current American
political trends rather than those back in Turkey and the Caucasus,
which are probably better reflected by the misinformation provided
by Sabah's "scoop."
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/64192