Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia: Difference between revisions
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[[Image:ASALA terrorist logo.jpg|thumb|250px|ASALA logo, showing a map of their goal with a rifle in front.]] |
[[Image:ASALA terrorist logo.jpg|thumb|250px|ASALA logo, showing a map of their goal with a rifle in front.]] |
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The '''Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA)''' was a [[Marxism-Leninism|Marxist-Leninist]] [[guerilla]] organization |
The '''Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA)''' was a [[Marxism-Leninism|Marxist-Leninist]] [[guerilla]] organization whose primary objective was to assassinate [[Turkey|Turkish]] diplomats and politicians in revenge for the deaths inflicted upon the Armenians during the [[Armenian Genocide]]. It also demanded that reparations in the form of money and territory from Turkey (in particular the area promised to the Armenians by [[President of the United States|US President]] [[Woodrow Wilson]] at the [[Treaty of Sevres]], which never came into effect). <ref name="countrystudy01">Paul M. Pitman and the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress. '''''Turkey: A Country Study''''', p. 354.</ref> The group also operated under other names such as '''The Orly Group''' and the '''[[3 October]] Organization''' as if to make the allusion of a broader international movement, though it is estimated that fewer than 1,000 belonged to the ASALA and its rival the [[Justice Commandos Against Armenian Genocide]] (JCAG) combined. <ref name="countrystudy01" /> It was considered a terrorist organization by the [[United States]], the [[European Union]], and the [[Soviet Union]]. |
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== History == |
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The ASALA was founded in [[1975]] by [[Hagop Tarakchian]] and [[Hagop Hagopian]] |
The ASALA was founded in [[1975]] in [[Beirut]] during the [[Lebanese Civil War]] by [[Hagop Tarakchian]] and [[Hagop Hagopian]] with the help of sympathetic [[Palestinians]]. <ref name="countrystudy01" /> At the time, [[History of Turkey|Turkey was in political turmoil]], and Hagopian believed that the time was right to avenge the deaths of the Armenians who died during the Armenian Genocide and to force the Turkish government to a cede to them the territory of Wilsonian Armenia for the purpose of unification with the existing [[Armenian SSR]]. In reaction to this, the rightist Lebanese Armenian extremists formed the JCAG to rival the ASALA. Neither group was assocoiated with the mainstream Armenian communities in [[Lebanon]] nor with the Armenian communities in Turkey. <ref name="countrystudy01" /> |
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The group's activities |
The group's activities were primarily assassinations of Turkish diplomats and politicians in [[Western Europe]], whereas the ASALA would operate in the United States and [[Canada]]. <ref name="countrystudy01" /> Their first acknowledged killing was the assassination of the Turkish diplomat, [[Danış Tunalıgil]], in [[Vienna]] on [[October 22]], [[1975]]. The group's eight point manifesto was published in [[1981]]. |
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Continous attacks prompted Turkey to blame the [[Cyprus|Republic of Cyprus]], [[Greece]], [[Syria]], [[Lebanon]], and the [[Soviet Union]] of provoking or possibly funding the ASALA, though nothing of this sort was proved. <ref name="countrystudy02">Paul M. Pitman and the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress. '''''Turkey: A Country Study''''', p. 283.</ref> With the [[1982 Lebanon War|Israeli invasion of Lebanon]] in [[1982]] the group lost much of its organization and support. Sympathetic Palestinian organizations including the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] (PLO) withdrew their support and passed materials to the French intelligence services in [[1983]], detailing ASALA operatives. |
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The group's most destructive attack was on [[August 7]], [[1982]] when nine people were killed and seventy were wounded in a bombing at [[Ankara]] airport. The attack precipitated a split in the group over tactics, between the Nationalists (''ASALA-Militant'') and the 'Popular Movement' (''ASALA-Mouvement Révolutionnaire''). |
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| ⚫ | The ASALA's most destructive attack was on [[August 7]], [[1982]] in [[Ankara]] at the [[Esenboga International Airport]], when its members targeted civilians for the first time. Two terrorists opened fire in a crowded passenger waiting room. One of the terrorists takes more than 20 hostages while the second is apprehended by police. Altogether, nine people are dead and 82 are injured. The surviving terrorist [[Levon Ekmekjian]] condemned the ASALA in the aftermath of the attack and appealed to other members to leave and stop the violence. The Esenboga attack also precipitated a split in the group over tactics, between the Nationalists (''ASALA-Militant'') and the 'Popular Movement' (''ASALA-Mouvement Révolutionnaire''). |
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== 1980's == |
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| ⚫ | Hagop Hagopian was assassinated on a sidewalk in an affluent neighborhood in [[Athens]], Greece on [[April 28]], [[1988]]. It is disputed whether Hagopian was assinated by the French secret services or Hovsep A., Vartan G., Garabed K., and Albert "Sultan-Minas", former ASALA members and close friends of Hapopian. His body was riddled by several shotgun rounds while he walking out with two women at 4:30 in the morning. <ref> Melkonian, Markar. ''My Brother's Road''. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005 pg.187</ref> Tarakchian died of [[cancer]] in 1980 and the group fell into inactivity. The ASALA was repressed by a series of attacks by the [[Millî İstihbarat Teşkilâtı|Turkish National Intelligence Organization]] (''MIT''), some carried out by [[Abdullah Çatlı]], leader of the ultra-nationalist [[Grey Wolves]], which worked in cooperation with the MIT and with [[Gladio]] "stay-behind" NATO secret paramilitary organizations <ref> {{tr icon}} {{cite news | title=Ağca basit bir kukla değil | publisher=[[Cumhuriyet]] | date=January 2006 | url=http://www.isn.ethz.ch/php/documents/collection_gladio/newspapers/Agca_Basi_Cumhuriyet_Gladio_190106.pdf}} </ref>. |
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The group received aid from [[Syria]], [[Libya]] and [[Greece]] in the [[1980s]] and possibly from [[France]]. It had links to the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] (PLO), [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] (PFLP) and [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - General Command|PFLP-GC]]. With the [[1982 Lebanon War|Israeli invasion of Lebanon]] in [[1982]] the group lost much of its organization and support. Transferred to Syria, it found itself distanced from the PLO, and it is reported that tensions between the two became such that the PLO passed materials to the French intelligence services in [[1983]], detailing ASALA operatives. |
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| ⚫ | Hagop Hagopian was assassinated on a sidewalk in an affluent neighborhood in [[Athens]], Greece on [[April 28]], [[1988]] |
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Although they publicly distanced themselves from the ASALA, Turkey's Armenia community also came under attack by Turkish nationalists in reaction to the attacks. For example, the assination of [[Ahmet Benler]], the son of Ambassador [[Ozdemir Benler]] on [[October 12]], [[1979]] by Armenian terrorists in [[the Hague]], the church of the Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate in [[Istanbul]] was bombed on [[October 19]]. |
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==Assassinations== |
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Most of the perpetrators of the murders and the other attacks were members of the Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) and the [[Justice Commandos for the Armenian Genocide]] (JCAG). Other smaller Armenian terrorist groups were also claimed to be involved in the terror against Turkish people abroad {{citation needed}}. |
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==Chronology== |
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A chronological list of the ASALA attacks<ref>Feigl, Eric (1986). ''A Myth of Terror'', Ed. Zeitgeschichte Freilassing Salzburg; 1st Printing edition (1986)</ref>: |
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'''January 27, 1973''' Santa Barbara, California: Armenian Georgeu Yanikian, a U.S. citizen, invites the Turkish consul general, Mehmet Baydar, and the consul, Bahadir Demir, to his home for "tea." The unsuspecting diplomats accept the invitation. Yanikian murders his two guests and is sentenced to life imprisonment. However, he is released later due to illness. |
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'''October 22, 1975''' Vienna: The Turkish ambassador to Austria, Danis Tunaligil, is assassinated in his study by three Armenian terrorists. ASALA claims responsibility. |
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'''October 24, 1975''' Paris: The Turkish ambassador to France, Ismail Erez and his driver, Talip Yener, are murdered. ASALA and JCAG dispute the responsibility. |
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'''February 16, 1976''' Beirut: The first secretary of the Turkish embassy, Oktar Cirit, is assassinated in a restaurant on Hamra Street. ASALA claims responsibility. |
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'''June 9, 1977''' Vatican City, Rome: The Turkish ambassador to the Holy See, Taha Carim, is shot and dies soon after the attack. JCAG claims responsibility. |
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'''June 2, 1978''' Madrid: Armenian terrorists attack the car of the Turkish ambassador to Spain, Zeki Kuneralp. His wife, Necla Kuneralp, and retired Turkish Ambassador Besir Balcioglu die immediately in the hail of gunfire. The Spanish driver, Antonio Torres, dies of his injuries in hospital. ASALA and JCAG quarrel over responsibility. |
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'''October 12, 1979''' The Hague: Ahmet Benler, the son of Ambassador Ozdemir Benler, is assassinated on the street by Armenian terrorists. Ten people look on as the terrorists slaughter the 27-year-old medical student and run away. ASALA and JCAG claim responsibility. |
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'''December 22, 1979''' London Yilmaz: Colpan, the tourism attache at the Turkish Embassy is assassinated while walking on the Champs Elysees. Several groups, including ASALA, JCAG and the "Commandos of Armenian Militants Against Genocide" wrestle over responsibility. |
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'''July 31, 1980''' Marseilles: Galip Ozmen, the administrative attache of the Turkish Embassy, and his family are attacked by Armenian terrorists while sitting in their car. Ozmen and his 14-year-old daughter, Neslihan, are killed in the attack. His wife, Sevil, and his 16-year-old son, Kaan, are wounded. Credit for the double killing is claimed by ASALA. |
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'''December 17, 1980''' Sydney: Two terrorists assassinate Sarik Ariyak, the Turkish consul general, and his bodyguard, Engin Sever. JCAG claims responsibility. |
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'''March 4, 1981''' Paris: Two terrorists open fire on Resat Morali, the labor attache at the Turkish Embassy, Tecelli Ari, a religious affairs official and Ilkay Karakoc, the Paris representative of Anadolu Bank. Morali and Karakoc try to flee the scene and make it safely to a cafe, but the owner throws them back out onto the street. Karakoc still manages to escape. Morali is murdered in front of the cafe. Ari, who was the first one targeted, dies a short time later. There are countless witnesses, but no one can remember what the murderers looked like. The Shahan Natali Group of ASALA claims responsibility. |
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'''June 9, 1981''' Geneva: Mehmet Savas Yerguz, a secretary in the Turkish Consulate, is assassinated by Armenian terrorist Madiros Jamgotchian. The arrest of the ASALA terrorist leads to the formation of a new ASALA branch called the Ninth Of June Organization, which will be responsible later on for a new series of attacks. |
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'''September 24, 1981''' Paris: Four Armenian terrorists occupy the Turkish Consulate. While they were entering the building, the consul, Kaya Inal, and a security guard, Cemal Ozen, are seriously wounded. The terrorists take 56 hostages. They finally allow the wounded Inal and Ozen to be taken to the hospital, but for Ozen it is too late. He dies of injuries in the hospital. When their demand for the release of Armenian terrorists is not accepted, they request political prisoner status. All of the terrorists are from Lebanon and belong to ASALA. |
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'''May 4, 1982''' Cambridge, Massachusetts: Orhan Gunduz, the honorary Turkish consul in Boston, would not bow to the Armenian terrorist ultimatum that he give up his title of honorary consul. He is attacked and murdered. President Ronald Reagan orders an all-out manhunt but to no avail. An eyewitness who gave a description of the murderer is shot down. He survives but falls silent. A 357 magnum, a nine-mm handgun, and a jogging jacket used by the assailant are all left at the scene of the crime. Television stations and newspapers join the manhunt. When the eyewitness is shot down, all help from the public dries up. Gunduz's murderer is never caught. |
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'''June 7, 1982''' Lisbon: The administrative attache at the Turkish Embassy, Erkut Akbay, and his wife, Nadide Akbay, are assassinated in front of their home. JCAG claims responsibility. |
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'''August 27, 1982''' Ottawa: Colonel Atilla Altikat, the military attache at the Turkish Embassy, is assassinated in his car. JCAG claims responsibility. |
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'''September 9, 1982''' Burgaz, Bulgaria: Bora Suelkan, the administrative attache at the Turkish Consulate in Burgaz, is assassinated in front of his home. The assassin leaves the message, "We shot dead the Turkish diplomat: Combat Unions of Justice Against the Armenian Genocide." An anonymous caller claims the assassination is the work of a branch of the ASALA headquarters in Beirut. |
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'''March 9, 1983''' Belgrade: Turkey's ambassador to Yugoslavia, Galip Balkar, is assassinated in central Belgrade. His driver, Necati Kayar, is shot in the stomach. As the two assailants flee from the scene, they are pursued by Yugoslav citizens. One of the terrorists shoots and wounds a Yugoslav colonel and is in turn apprehended by police. The second terrorist opens fire on civilians who are chasing him, killing a young student. The two terrorists, Kirkor Levonian and Raffi Elbekian, are tried and sentenced. |
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'''July 14, 1983''' Brussels: Armenian terrorists murder Dursun Aksoy, the administrative attache at the Turkish Embassy. Three groups compete for the "honor" of having organized the death squad: ASALA, JCAG and the [[Armenian Revolutionary Army]] (ARA). |
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'''July 27, 1983''' Lisbon: Five Armenian terrorists attempt to storm the Turkish Embassy in Lisbon. Failing to gain access to the chancery, they occupy the residence, taking Deputy Chief of Mission Yurtsev Mihcioglu, his wife and family hostage. When explosives go off, Cahide Mihcioglu, wife of the deputy chief of mission, and four of the terrorists are blown to pieces. Yurtsev Mihciolgu and his son, Atasay, are injured. The fifth terrorist is killed by security forces, while one Portuguese policeman dies in the clash. ARA claims responsibility. |
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'''April 28, 1984''' Tehran: Two Armenian terrorists riding a motorcycle open fire on Isik Yonder as he drives his wife, Sadiye Yonder, to the Turkish Embassy where she works. Isik Yonder is killed. ASALA claims responsibility. |
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'''June 20, 1984''' Vienna: A bomb explodes in a car belonging to Erdogan Ozen, an assistant labor and social affairs counselor at the Turkish Embassy in Vienna. Ozen is killed and five others are seriously wounded, including a policeman. ARA terrorists claim credit for the crime. |
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'''November 19, 1984''' Vienna: Enver Ergun, deputy director of the U.N. Center for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs in Vienna, is assassinated while driving to work. The murderers leave a flag with the initials A.R.A. on his corpse. |
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Armenian terrorism appeared to slow down in the late 1980s and came to an end by the collapse of the organizations due in-fighting among various factions within the organization and dilution of the original cause. |
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== References == |
== References == |
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*[http://www.atmg.org/ArmenianTerrorism.html Chronology of Armenian Terrorism] |
*[http://www.atmg.org/ArmenianTerrorism.html Chronology of Armenian Terrorism] |
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*[http://www.armenians.com/asala/index.html ASALA Online - Armenian Perspective] |
*[http://www.armenians.com/asala/index.html ASALA Online - Armenian Perspective] |
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*[http://www.armenianreality.com/ Armenian Reality - Turkish Perspective] |
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*[http://www.ermenisorunu.gen.tr/english/diplomats/index.html Turkish Diplomats killed by ASALA] |
*[http://www.ermenisorunu.gen.tr/english/diplomats/index.html Turkish Diplomats killed by ASALA] |
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*[http://www.turkishweekly.net/articles.php?id=113 Armenian Terrorism: History as Poison and Antidote Prof. Dr. Justin McCarthy, Louisville University, Kentucky] |
*[http://www.turkishweekly.net/articles.php?id=113 Armenian Terrorism: History as Poison and Antidote Prof. Dr. Justin McCarthy, Louisville University, Kentucky] |
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*[http://www.ataa.org/ataa/ref/atrocities/intro/armenian_terrorism_and_the.html Armenian Terrorism and the Armenian-American Community] |
*[http://www.ataa.org/ataa/ref/atrocities/intro/armenian_terrorism_and_the.html Armenian Terrorism and the Armenian-American Community] |
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*[http://www.ataa.org/spotlight/courtrecords.htm Convicted Armenian Terorrist Actions] |
*[http://www.ataa.org/spotlight/courtrecords.htm Convicted Armenian Terorrist Actions] |
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*[http://www.anarmenianmyth.com/murderedturkishdiplomats.htm An Armenian Myth] |
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[[Category:Irregular military]] |
[[Category:Irregular military]] |
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Revision as of 20:22, 22 July 2006
The Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) was a Marxist-Leninist guerilla organization whose primary objective was to assassinate Turkish diplomats and politicians in revenge for the deaths inflicted upon the Armenians during the Armenian Genocide. It also demanded that reparations in the form of money and territory from Turkey (in particular the area promised to the Armenians by US President Woodrow Wilson at the Treaty of Sevres, which never came into effect). [1] The group also operated under other names such as The Orly Group and the 3 October Organization as if to make the allusion of a broader international movement, though it is estimated that fewer than 1,000 belonged to the ASALA and its rival the Justice Commandos Against Armenian Genocide (JCAG) combined. [1] It was considered a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, and the Soviet Union.
History
The ASALA was founded in 1975 in Beirut during the Lebanese Civil War by Hagop Tarakchian and Hagop Hagopian with the help of sympathetic Palestinians. [1] At the time, Turkey was in political turmoil, and Hagopian believed that the time was right to avenge the deaths of the Armenians who died during the Armenian Genocide and to force the Turkish government to a cede to them the territory of Wilsonian Armenia for the purpose of unification with the existing Armenian SSR. In reaction to this, the rightist Lebanese Armenian extremists formed the JCAG to rival the ASALA. Neither group was assocoiated with the mainstream Armenian communities in Lebanon nor with the Armenian communities in Turkey. [1]
The group's activities were primarily assassinations of Turkish diplomats and politicians in Western Europe, whereas the ASALA would operate in the United States and Canada. [1] Their first acknowledged killing was the assassination of the Turkish diplomat, Danış Tunalıgil, in Vienna on October 22, 1975. The group's eight point manifesto was published in 1981.
Continous attacks prompted Turkey to blame the Republic of Cyprus, Greece, Syria, Lebanon, and the Soviet Union of provoking or possibly funding the ASALA, though nothing of this sort was proved. [2] With the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 the group lost much of its organization and support. Sympathetic Palestinian organizations including the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) withdrew their support and passed materials to the French intelligence services in 1983, detailing ASALA operatives.
The ASALA's most destructive attack was on August 7, 1982 in Ankara at the Esenboga International Airport, when its members targeted civilians for the first time. Two terrorists opened fire in a crowded passenger waiting room. One of the terrorists takes more than 20 hostages while the second is apprehended by police. Altogether, nine people are dead and 82 are injured. The surviving terrorist Levon Ekmekjian condemned the ASALA in the aftermath of the attack and appealed to other members to leave and stop the violence. The Esenboga attack also precipitated a split in the group over tactics, between the Nationalists (ASALA-Militant) and the 'Popular Movement' (ASALA-Mouvement Révolutionnaire).
Hagop Hagopian was assassinated on a sidewalk in an affluent neighborhood in Athens, Greece on April 28, 1988. It is disputed whether Hagopian was assinated by the French secret services or Hovsep A., Vartan G., Garabed K., and Albert "Sultan-Minas", former ASALA members and close friends of Hapopian. His body was riddled by several shotgun rounds while he walking out with two women at 4:30 in the morning. [3] Tarakchian died of cancer in 1980 and the group fell into inactivity. The ASALA was repressed by a series of attacks by the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT), some carried out by Abdullah Çatlı, leader of the ultra-nationalist Grey Wolves, which worked in cooperation with the MIT and with Gladio "stay-behind" NATO secret paramilitary organizations [4].
Throughout its history, the ASALA claimed the lives of 31 Turkish diplomats and embassy staff, including wives and children. Three ambassadors were killed from 1975 to date. A multitude of attacks were carried out on Turkish private institutions abroad, including banks and travel agencies.
Although they publicly distanced themselves from the ASALA, Turkey's Armenia community also came under attack by Turkish nationalists in reaction to the attacks. For example, the assination of Ahmet Benler, the son of Ambassador Ozdemir Benler on October 12, 1979 by Armenian terrorists in the Hague, the church of the Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate in Istanbul was bombed on October 19.
References
- ^ a b c d e Paul M. Pitman and the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress. Turkey: A Country Study, p. 354.
- ^ Paul M. Pitman and the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress. Turkey: A Country Study, p. 283.
- ^ Melkonian, Markar. My Brother's Road. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005 pg.187
- ^ Template:Tr icon "Ağca basit bir kukla değil" (PDF). Cumhuriyet. January 2006.
External links
- ASALA profile Groups Listed as Terrorist in Prior Editions of "Patterns of Global Terrorism". United States Department of State Publication 10321
- Chronology of Armenian Terrorism
- ASALA Online - Armenian Perspective
- Turkish Diplomats killed by ASALA
- Armenian Terrorism: History as Poison and Antidote Prof. Dr. Justin McCarthy, Louisville University, Kentucky
- Armenian Terrorism and the Armenian-American Community
- Convicted Armenian Terorrist Actions