Today marks the birthday of National Hero of Armenia Monte Melkonian. The Armenians will always remember the distinguished Armenian as a brilliant individual.

Monte Melkonian was born on November 25, 1957 in the United States of America to the family of an Armenian who had survived the Armenian Genocide and had settled in Vicelia, California. Throughout his life, Monte fought for the rights of the Armenian people, recognition of the Armenian Genocide and for the Armenian people to reclaim their homeland, even though he was an archaeology professor and was fluent in eight languages. In 1980, he joined the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) and quickly became one of its leaders.

In 1981, he organized the famous Van operation that helped ASALA reach its peak.

On November 11, 1981, Monte was arrested at the Orli airport in France under the charge of having a fake passport and carrying a gun. First, he was sentenced to four years in prison, but later the court decided to deport him from the country. In court, Monte declared: “All Armenians carry fake passports, be it French or American. They will continue to be fake passports as long as they are not Armenian…”

In 1985, he entered France with another fake passport an d was arrested after several months under the charge of organizing a “terrorist act”.

Monte was released on January 16, 1989, and after traveling across countries for a couple of years, he arrived in Armenia where the struggle for the liberation of Artsakh had already begun. Here he took the pseudonym Avo and left for Artsakh in September 1991.

In 1992, by the proposal of Vazgen Sargsyan, Monte assumed the duty of chief of headquarters in the Martuni region. After a short while, he gained the love and respect of the people with his purity and sincerity. Under his leadership, Martuni became the most protected and most efficient region.

In March-April 1993, Karvatchar was liberated under his leadership.

On June 12, 1993, Monte and his friends saw a tank near Marzili village. They thought the soldiers were Armenian, but it turned out that they were Azerbaijanis. The sides started shooting, and Monte and his friend, Saribek were killed.