TURKISH AND RUSSIAN MEDIA RECALL STEPAN ZATIKYAN IN AFTERMATH OF MOSCOW BOMBINGS

Tert.am
12:50 â~@¢ 31.03.10

Just two days after the March 29 twin bombings in the Moscow metro, the
Russian media recalled a January 8, 1977 bombing in Moscow allegedly
organized and implemented by Armenian nationals Stepan Zatikyan,
Hakob Stepanyan and Zaven Baghdasaryan who were arrested and shot dead.

Reported by Russian daily Moskovskiy Komsomolets, the news article
has found a wide response also in Turkish media, including Today’s
Zaman and Cihan news agency.

"The Moscow metro was built in the 1930s and since then it has been
subjected to numerous terroristic attacks. But the first act of
terrorism was carried out by a racist Armenian group in January 8,
1977. In an attempt to join Karabakh and Nakhijevan to Armenia, which
belong to Azerbaijan, the Armenian racists attacked the Moscow metro,
killing innocent people…

The investigation uncovered that the attack was carried out by Stepan
Zatikyan, Hakob Stepanyan and Zaven Baghdasaryan, Armenian citizens
based in Yerevan. They were students at the Yerevan Polytechnic
Institute. They had founded an underground National United Party and
were publishing Paros (Lighthouse) newspaper. They demanded Armenia’s
independence… The first attack on the Moscow metro left 7 dead and
37 injured," reports Cihan.

Sentenced to death following his arrest, Zatikyan had not pleaded
guilty and his final words were "You do not have the right to judge
me because the Ä´hud-Russian empire is not a legal state."