The 1960s and 1970s saw a rise in underground political and armed struggle against the Soviet Union and the Turkish state in and outside of Armenia . In 1966 , an underground nationalist party called the National United Party was founded by Haykaz Khachatryan in Yerevan . It secretly operated in Soviet Armenia from 1966 to the late 1980s and , after the imprisonment of its founding members in 1968 , it was led by Paruyr Hayrikyan . It advocated for the creation of United Armenia through self-determination . Most of its members were arrested and the party was banned . Though the NUP was blamed for the 1977 Moscow bombings , according to historian Jay Bergman it the mastermind of the bombing has " never been determined conclusively . " According to Gerard Libaridian , " by the 1970s , the recognition of the Armenian genocide became a very important objective of the Armenian cause and diaspora political parties linked the recognition of the genocide and the dream of a greater Armenia because Turkey 's recognition of the genocide would constitute the legal basis for the Armenian claims on Western Armenia . " From the mid-1970s to the late 1980s , several Armenian militant ( often considered terrorist ) groups operated in the Middle East and Western Europe . Most notably the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia ( ASALA ) carried out armed attacks on Turkish diplomatic missions around the world . Two ARF-affiliated groups — the Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide ( JCAG ) and the Armenian Revolutionary Army ( ARA ) — also carried out similar attacks , mainly in Western Europe . David C. Rapoport argues that these organizations were inspired by Gourgen Yanikian , a 77-year-old Armenian genocide survivor , who assassinated two Turkish consular officials in California in 1973 as an act of revenge against Turkey
1977 Moscow bombings
1977 Moscow bombings
United Armenia