Armenian guerrillas seize Turkish center in Paris

September 25, 1981

Armenian guerrillas seized control of the Turkish cultural center here and said they would kill some 40 hostages unless the Turkish government agreed to fly all American political prisoners held in Turkey to the French capital.

A spokesman for the group, the Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia, told Reuters in a telephone conversation: "We are heavily armed and have bombs. If the police try to attack us we will start killing the hostages."

A total of 15 Turkish diplomats have been killed since 1973 by Armenian terrorists. Five of the slain envoys were killed in France.