The JCAG is an Armenian nationalist revolutionary organization founded in 1975 seeking to reestablish an independent Armenian state within the territory occupied by the former Republic of Armenia during World War I within eastern Turkey. It has pursued this goal through attacks on Turkish diplomats and economic interests outside Turkey in the belief that Turkey bears responsibility for the slaughter of Armenians and the destruction of the Armenian Republic that occurred in 1915.

JCAG differs from the other major Armenian terrorist group, the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA, q.v.) in two important respects: First, JCAG is primarily nationalistic rather than Marxist-Leninist. Therefore it has relied almost exclusively on private support from Armenian communities rather than state-sponsorship from countries hostile to Turkey. Second, the members of JCAG, being very Westernized nationalists, value Western and world public opinion highly and therefore take pains to avoid harming non-Turkish nationals mindful of the potential harm such actions could render the Armenian cause. Nonetheless JCAG has conducted attacks on Turkish targets within the United States, making themselves felt there as a very serious terrorist threat to law and order.

An analysis of 29 noteworthy actions by JCAG in the period from 1975-1983 showed that 52 percent (=15) involved assassination of Turkish diplomats, 2 of them in the United States and another in Canada; 45 percent (=13) involved bombings and arsons of Turkish diplomatic, tourism, and commercial offices; while 3 percent (=1) represented an unfulfilled threat against Turkish targets. JCAG terrorism within the United States took place entirely from January 1982 to May 1982: On 29 January 1982, Kemal Arikan, consul general of Turkey in Los Angeles, was shot and killed as he was driving home. On 22 March 1982, the offices of Orhan Gunduz, honorary Turkish consul general in Boston, were firebombed and he himself was shot and killed on 4 May 1982. A conspiracy to bomb the home of the honorary consul general of Turkey in Philadelphia was foiled in October 1982. Since then nothing further has been heard of JCAG either in the United States or abroad, a curious fact that requires some explanation.

On 15 July 1983, the ASALA bombed Orly Airport near Paris, killing 7 and wounding over 60 bystanders. This event led to a crisis within ASALA as many members protested what they believed to be counterproductive violence against non-Turkish nationals. The dissenting faction became known as ASALA-Revolutionary Movement, to be distinguished from the mainline ASALA-Militant. Beginning also in July 1983, the name "Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide" dropped from use while actions similar to those of JCAG began to be claimed in the name of the "Armenian Revolutionary Army'' (ARA). Many analysts believe that the JCAG merely changed its name to ARA and that it is essentially the same organization. It is also possible that members of ASALA-RM and JCAG may have amalgamated themselves into the new ARA. An analysis of 7 actions by ARA in 1983-1985 show that 43 percent (=3) of these involved assassinations; 14 percent (=2) involved hostage and siege situations; while one car bombing and an unfilled threat each accounted for 14 percent of ARA activities. While ARA made the same disclaimers as had JCAG that it intended no harm to non-Turkish bystanders in contrast to earlier JCAG operations, at least six non-Turkish nationals were killed as a result of these operations.