LOS ANGELES -- The father of a suspected Armenian terrorist accused with four others of plotting to blow up the Turkish consulate in Philadelphia said Thursday the Turkish slaughter of Armenians was his son's driving obsession.
Vasken Yacoubian, father of Viken Yacoubian, 21, testified that as a child in Lebanon his son was influenced by tales from his grandfathers and uncles of the mass killings of Armenians during World War I.
Viken Yacoubian was being tried in federal court with three other Los Angeles men -- Viken Hovsepian, 24, Karnig Sarkissian, 31 and Steven Dadaian, 22. They were indicted in October 1982 on three counts of conspiring to blow up the consulate, and possession and interstate transportation of explosives.
The fifth suspect -- Dikran Berberian, 30, of Glendale -- faces an August trial.
Defense attorneys have not denied the charges and said they would try to demonstrate to U.S. District Court Judge Mariana Pfaelzer the circumstances and deep feelings surrounding the acts.
Because there is no dispute of facts, the government submitted its case in writting to the court.
'What we are trying to show is the tremendous effect the horrendous treatment of the Armenians through the years has had on these young men,' said Michael Lightfoot, attorney for Yacoubian.
Yacoubian's father testified his son spent most of his time with his grandfather, who fought with the Armenian Legion of the French army against the Turks in World War I. Through his grandfather, the genocide became the focus of Yacoubian's life, the father said.
The three-count indictment alleged the men -- believed to be members of the underground Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide -- intended to plant the dynamite outside the Philadelphia office of the Honorary Turkish Consul General in October 1982.
The Justice Commandos has claimed responsibility for bombings of Turkish government buildings and the assassination of Turkish officials. It has sworn vengeance for what it claims was the intentional slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians by the Turks in 1915. The Turkish government denies the claims.
The four were arrested Oct. 22, 1982, after a joint investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and FBI. The investigation began in response to a string of bombings in the Los Angeles area since 1980.
Dadaian was arrested in Boston after arriving by plane from Los Angeles with explosives. The other three were arrested in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
