Hagop Hagopian (or Agop Agopian; hy, Յակոբ Յակոբեան; 1951–28 April 1988) was one of the founders and the main leader of

ASALA Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) was a militant organization active between 1975 and the 1990s whose stated goal was "to compel the Turkish Government to acknowledge publicly its responsibility for the Armenian genocide ...

Life

Born in

Mosul Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second larg ...

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

as Harutiun Takoshian ( hy, Յարութիւն Թագուշեան), he took the nom de guerre Hagop Hagopian, and moved to

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

, where according to some sources he joined the

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ( ar, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين, translit=al-Jabhah al-Sha`biyyah li-Taḥrīr Filasṭīn, PFLP) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist and revolutionary so ...

. In 1975, along with writer

Kevork Ajemian Kevork Vartani Ajemian (''Adjemian'') (in Armenian Գևորգ Աճեմյան, in Western Armenian Գէորգ Աճեմեան) (May 23, 1932 – December 27, 1998) was a prominent Lebanese-Armenian writer, journalist, novelist, theorist and public ac ...

and others, and with the support from Palestinian groups, he founded in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

the ASALA. As leader of ASALA, he directed attacks and assassinations of Turkish diplomats and their families in various countries of the world. Following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, Hagopian fled and supposedly set up new bases in Damascus and

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. He broke with the Palestine Liberation Organization, which had given ASALA training and support, and linked up with the anti-PLO leader

Abu Nidal Sabri Khalil al-Banna (May 1937 – 16 August 2002), known by his '' nom de guerre'' Abu Nidal, was the founder of Fatah: The Revolutionary Council, a militant Palestinian splinter group more commonly known as the Abu Nidal Organization ...

. Hagopian was wanted in France for masterminding the Orly Airport attack in July 1983. This attack resulted in a split in ASALA, with the splinter group ASALA Revolutionary Movement led by

Monte Melkonian Monte Melkonian ( hy, Մոնթէ Մելքոնեան; November 25, 1957 – June 12, 1993) was an Armenian-American revolutionary and left-wing nationalist militant. He was the leader of an offshoot of the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation ...

condemning "the murderous deviation" of Hagopian. Hagopian's more militant faction concentrated in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

and Greece. In the aftermath of the split, Hagopian executed two of Melkonian's allies within ASALA in retaliation for the assassination of two of Hagopian's closest aides. According to the unidentified U.S. official quoted by ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', in the late 1980s ASALA had grown more mercenary due to financial difficulties, and "Hagopian became a gun for hire".

Assassination

Hagopian was assassinated outside his home in Athens'

Palaio Faliro Palaio Faliro ( el, Παλαιό Φάληρο, ; Katharevousa: Palaion Faliron, Παλαιόν Φάληρον, meaning "Old Phalerum") is a coastal district and a municipality in the southern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece. At the 2011 c ...

suburb at 4:30 a.m. on 28 April 1988, while he was waiting for a taxi to take him to the airport for a flight to Belgrade. He was accompanied by his sister-in-law, who was not hurt. A Greek police official said two armed men got out of a parked car as Hagopian walked out of his apartment building carrying his luggage. One of the two men opened fire with a

sawn-off shotgun A sawed-off shotgun (also called a sawn-off shotgun, short-barreled shotgun, shorty or a boom stick) is a type of shotgun with a shorter gun barrel—typically under —and often a shortened or absent stock. Despite the colloquial term, ...

, wounding Hagopian in the chest and elbow. As Hagopian tried to flee, the killer ran after him and fired twice into his head and chest. The attackers escaped in a car left parked across the street. The victim was at first identified as Abdul Mohammed Kasim, 39, from a South Yemen diplomatic passport he was carrying. However, when police questioned his wife Jeanine, she revealed that her husband used numerous false passports and identified him as Hagop Hagopian who had lived in Athens for about a year under the name Henri Titizian and had frequently traveled abroad using the Yemeni passport. The South Yemeni Embassy denied having any knowledge of Hagopian's real identity. Authorities in Greece also stated that they were not aware of the real identity of the victim. No one claimed responsibility for the assassination. According to Turkish sources, the assassination was carried out by Turks and was planned and led by Mete Günyol. The Turkish government denied complicity in the assassination. ''

'' quoted a U.S. intelligence source as saying: "It's hard to say who hit him. He was not a nice character by any stretch of the imagination. He was certainly a very wanted man". A later report claimed that Syrians had been behind his assassination, as Hagopian refused to follow their orders to bomb Christian east Beirut, and they were also displeased with Hagopian as he had close relations with Palestinians such as Abu Ayad. According to Markar Melkonian, the brother of Monte Melkonian, Hagopian's assassins were former ASALA members and lieutenants of Hagopian. The body of Hagop Hagopian was flown to Iraq and buried in his home town of Mosul. It was revealed that Hagopian's real name was Harutiun Takoshian and that his parents, Mgrdich and Siranoush Takoshian, still lived in Mosul. Previously, the French police had claimed that his real name was Bedros Hovanissian.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hagopian, Hagop 1951 births 1988 deaths 1988 murders in Europe Armenian nationalists Armenian people murdered abroad Armenian revolutionaries Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia Assassinated Armenian people Deaths by firearm in Greece Iraqi people of Armenian descent People from Mosul People murdered in Greece Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine