The Armenian Revolutionary Army (ARA) (in Armenian Հայ Յեղափոխական Բանակ (ՀՅԲ) - pronounced Hay Heghabokhakan Banak) was an Armenian

militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin ...

organization that attacked at least 7 times resulting in at least 6 fatalities and 8 injuries. The group took responsibility for the gunning down of Turkish Embassy attache Dursun Aksoy in Brussels (1983), an attack on Turkish embassy in Lisbon (1983), and the attack on the Turkish Embassy in Ottawa (1985). Armenian Revolutionary Army is thought to be the continuation of the organization Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide (JCAG)MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base
under a different name. As JCAG stopped taking responsibility in communiques from 1983 on, it was the Armenian Revolutionary Army that carried on with the military activities.

Operations

A library in Lisbon, Portugal was bombed in 1970. This was the first attack claimed by the ARA. But as the next attack claimed by the same-named organization occurred only in 1983, many have questioned if this was actually related to the organization established in the 1980s as a continuation of JCAG or whether they were two different organizations happening to use the same name ARA. In 1983, Armenian Revolutionary Army claimed responsibility for an attack on the Turkish Embassy attache Dursun Aksoy who was gunned down in Brussels. ARA took responsibility for the

1983 Turkish embassy attack in Lisbon The 1983 Turkish embassy attack was an attack on the Turkey, Turkish embassy in Lisbon on 27 July 1983, which resulted in the death of 7 people, including all 5 attackers. Background Witnesses said the gunmen arrived at about 10:30 a.m. in t ...

against the Turkish embassy in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administrative limits w ...

on 27 July 1983. It resulted in the death of 7 people, including all 5 attackers known in Armenian sources as "The Lisbon five" (Setrak Ajamian, 19 years old; Ara Kuhrjulian, 20; Sarkis Abrahamian, 21; Simon Yahniyan, 21, and Vache Daghlian, 19). On 12 March 1985, ARA claimed responsibility for the attack on the Turkish Embassy in Ottawa. Three ARA gunmen who attacked the Turkish embassy in Ottawa,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

were Kevork Marachelian, 35, of LaSalle,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

, Rafi Panos Titizian, 27, of Scarborough,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, and Ohannes Noubarian, 30, of

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

. They surrendered to police. ARA's last attack occurred in 1985.

References

{{Authority control Armenian Revolutionary Federation Defunct Armenian paramilitary organizations Armenian militant groups Organizations based in Europe designated as terrorist Social Democrat Hunchakian Party

Operations

See also

References