Man Accused of Plot to Bomb Turkish Targets
A prominent Armenian American activist has been charged with plotting attacks against Turkish targets in the United States for two decades, including a bombing that injured three in 1980.
Mourad Topalian, chairman of the Armenian National Committee of America, appeared in U.S. District Court on Friday after being arrested Thursday on conspiracy, weapon and explosive charges. Topalian declined to comment after a brief hearing.
He could get 31 years in prison if convicted. The indictment charged Topalian with directing a group that stole weapons and explosives used in a car bombing outside the Turkish mission to the United Nations in New York City in October 1980.
The indictment mentions two 1981 California bombings--at the Orange County Convention Center in Anaheim and the Turkish consulate in Beverly Hills--in which no one was hurt, but it does not say whether Topalian was involved.
U.S. Atty. Emily Sweeney said the alleged plot was intended to draw attention to Armenian claims that about 1.5 million people were slaughtered in 1915.
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