Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia
Encyclopedia
The Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia or ASALA (ՀԱՀԳԲ) was an Armenian nationalist
militant
organization, that operated from 1975 to 1986. The group also operated under other names such as The Orly Group and the 3 October Organization. It is considered a terrorist organization by many sources, other sources describe it as guerrilla and armed organization. 46 people were killed and 299 injured as a result of ASALA attacks and assassinations. The stated intention of ASALA was "to compel the Turkish Government to acknowledge publicly its responsibility for the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians
in 1915, pay reparations, and cede territory for an Armenian homeland". The principal goal of ASALA was to reestablish historical Armenia that would include eastern Turkey, northern Iran and the Soviet Armenia.
The territory to be ceded would be the area promised to the Armenians at the never-ratified
Treaty of Sèvres
in 1920 by US President
Woodrow Wilson
, "Wilsonian Armenia
". ASALA was listed as a terrorist
organization by the United States in the 1980s; it is no longer listed as such. The group's mottos were "The armed struggle and right political line are the way to Armenia", "Viva the revolutionary solidarity of oppressed people!"
The group received considerable clandestine support from Armenian diaspora
in Europe and in the USA.
Suffering from internal schisms, the group was relatively inactive in the 1990s, although in 1991 it claimed an unsuccessful attack on the Turkish ambassador to Hungary. The organization has not engaged in militant activity since then.
had embarked on the campaign to exterminate its Armenian population, which was largely concentrated in its eastern provinces and referred to at the time as Western Armenia
. The survivors of the massacres and deprivations commonly seen in the death marches found refuge in countries in the Middle East and in Western Europe and the USA. While the key ringleaders of the genocide were executed in the 1920s by Armenians, the Ottoman Empire's successor, the Republic of Turkey, effectively took a hold of all the possessions Armenians left behind and for decades vociferously insisted that a genocide had not taken place. It actively campaigned against any and all attempts to publicise the events and bring forward recognition in the West. It, in fact, blamed Armenians for instigating the violence and alleged that Armenians had massacred thousands of Turks, prompting the commencement of their deportations. In 1965, Armenians around the world publicly marked the 50th anniversary and began to campaign for world recognition. As peaceful marches and demonstrations failed to move an intransigent Turkey, the younger generation of Armenians, resentful at the denial by Turkey
and the failure by their parents' generation to effect change, sought new approaches to bringing about recognition and reparations.
In 1973 two Turkish diplomats were assassinated in Los Angeles by Gourgen Yanikian
, an elderly man who survived the Armenian Genocide
. Behind this act of revenge lay a national reawakening among the scattered Armenians in the world, which had begun in the end of the 1960s and early 1970s. This event might have been progressively forgotten, had it not initiated a chain of events which turned it, and its perpetrator, into a symbol representing the end of the conspiracy of silence which since 1915 had surrounded the Armenian Genocide. ASALA was founded in 1975 in Beirut
, Lebanon
during the Lebanese Civil War
by Hagop Hagopian
(Harutiun Tagushian), pastor Rev. James Karnusian
and Kevork Ajemian, a prominent contemporary writer, with the help of sympathetic Palestinians. At the beginning, ASALA bore the name of "The Prisoner Kurken Yanikian
Group". Consisting primarily of Lebanese-born Armenians of the Diaspora (whose parents and/or grandparents were survivors of the Armenian Genocide
), the organization followed a theoretical model based on leftist ideology. The apex of group's structure was the General Command of the People of Armenia (VAN).
The group's activities were primarily assassinations of Turkish diplomats and politicians in Western Europe
, in the United States and the Middle East. Their first acknowledged killing was the assassination of the Turkish diplomat, Daniş Tunalıgil
, in Vienna
on October 22, 1975. A failed attack in Geneva
on October 3, 1980, in which two Armenian militants were injured resulted in a new nickname for the group, the 3 October Organization. The ASALA's eight point manifesto was published in 1981.
ASALA, trained in the Beirut camps of Palestine Liberation Organization
, is the best known of the guerrilla groups responsible for assassinations of at least 36 Turkish diplomats. Since 1975, a couple of dozen Turkish diplomats or members of their families had been targeted in a couple of dozens of attacks, with the outcome that the Armenian revenge, as well as the background to the Armenian struggle, have made it through the world press. These notable acts, while practically carried out by a small group, were successful in conveying the Armenian Genocide and its silence to the forefront of international awareness.
website, there had been 84 incidents involving ASALA leaving 46 dead and 299 injured, including the following:
One of the most criticized attacks of ASALA was Esenboga airport attack
on August 7, 1982 in Ankara
, when its members targeted non-diplomat civilians for the first time. Two militants opened fire in a crowded passenger waiting room. One of the shooters took more than 20 hostages while the second was apprehended by police. Altogether, nine people died and 82 were injured. The arrested militant Levon Ekmekjian condemned the ASALA in the aftermath of the attack and appealed to other members to leave and stop the violence.
On August 10, 1982, Artin Penik
a Turk of Armenian descent
, set himself on fire in protest of this attack.
Prominent Armenian poet Silva Kaputikyan
in 1983 wrote "Its raining my sonny" poem dedicated to the memory of ASALA member Ekmekjian.
On July 15, 1983, the ASALA carried out another attack
at the Orly Airport
near Paris, in which 8 people were killed, most of them being French citizens. The attack resulted in a split in ASALA, between those individuals who carried it out, and those who believed the attack to be counter productive.
The split resulted in emergence of two groups, the Nationalists (ASALA-Militant) led by Hagopian and the 'Revolutionary Movement' (ASALA-Mouvement Révolutionnaire) led by Monte Melkonian
. While Melkonian's faction insisted on attacks strictly against Turkish officials and the Turkish government, Hagopian's group disregarded the losses of unintended victims and regularly executed dissenting members.
Afterwards, French forces promptly arrested those involved. Moreover, this attack eliminated the suspected secret agreement that the French socialist government made with ASALA, in which the government would allow ASALA to use France as a base of operations in exchange for refraining from launching attacks on French soil. Belief in this suspected agreement was further bolstered after "Interior Minister Gaston Defferre
called [ASALA's] cause "just", and four Armenians arrested for taking hostages at the Turkish Embassy in September 1981 were given light sentences."
, Greece, Syria
, Lebanon
, and the Soviet Union of provoking or possibly funding the ASALA. Although they publicly distanced themselves from the ASALA, Turkey's Armenian community came under attack by Turkish nationalists in reaction to the group's actions. This became apparent after the assassination of Ahmet Benler
on October 12, 1979 by Armenian militants in the Hague
. The reaction to the attack led to the bombing of the church of the Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate in Istanbul
on October 19 in retaliation. In 1980, the Turkish government arrested Armenian priest Fr. Manuel Yergatian at the Istanbul airport for the alleged possession of maps that indicated Armenian territory within modern day Turkey and was sentenced to 14 years in prison for possible ties with ASALA. Amnesty International
adopted him as a prisoner of conscience, concluding that the evidence against him was baseless.
In April, 2000 the opening ceremony of "In Memory of killed ASALA commandos" monument took place at Armenian military pantheon with participation of Greek anti-fascist resistance leader Manolis Glezos
and other special guests.
in August 1982 the then President of Turkey Kenan Evren
issued a decree for the elimination of ASALA. The task was given to the National Intelligence Organization's Foreign Operations Department. Evren's own daughter, a member of the MİT, ran the operation together with Foreign Intelligence Department chief Metin (Mete) Günyol, and Istanbul region director Nuri Gündeş.
Levon Ekmekjian was captured and placed in Ankara's Mamak Prison. He was told that he had to choose between confessing and being executed. After being promised that his comrades would not be harmed, he revealed how the ASALA worked to a team led by MİT's Presidential Liaison and Evren's son-in-law, Erkan Gürvit. He was executed nevertheless.
In the early Spring of 1983 two teams were sent to France and Lebanon. Günyol tapped contract killer Abdullah Çatlı
, who had just finished serving a prison sentence in Switzerland for drug trafficking, to lead the French contingent. Günyol says he did not reveal his identity to Çatlı, who referred to him as "Colonel", thinking Günyol used to be a soldier.
A second French unit was assembled under MİT operative Sabah Ketene. The Lebanese contingent, consisting only of MİT operatives and members of the "Special Warfare Department" (special forces
), was led by MİT officer Hiram Abas.
Çatlı's team was planted in Ara Toranyan's car on 22 March 1983 did not explode. A follow-up attempt also failed. Toranyan said they had planted the bomb in the wrong car. Likewise, Henri Papazyan's car bomb on 1 May 1984 did not explode. Çatlı claimed credit for killing Hagop Hagopian, however he was in a French prison (again, on narcotics charges) at the time of the attack. Papazyan is now believed to have been killed as a result of infighting. The second French team (led by Ketene) did carry out some attacks (which Çatlı also claimed credit for), such as the 1984 Alfortville monument and Salle Pleyel concert room attacks. It is unknown whether the Lebanese contingent did anything at all.
Hagopian was assassinated by in succsessful attack of Turkish contrterror team.
Hagopian was assassinated outside his home in Athens' Palaio Faliro suburb at 4:30 a.m. on April 28, 1988, while he was waiting for a taxi to take him to the airport for a flight to Belgrade. He was accompanied by his sister-in-law, who was not hurt.
A Greek police official said two armed men got out of a parked car as Hagopian walked out of his apartment building, carrying his luggage. One of the two men opened fire with the sawed-off shotgun, wounding Hagopian in the chest and elbow. As Hagopian tried to flee, the killer ran after him and fired two more slugs into his head and chest. The attack was planned and led by Mete Günyol
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 last attack, on 19 December 1991, targeted the bullet-proof limousine carrying the Turkish Ambassador to Budapest
. The ambassador was not injured in the attack, which was claimed by ASALA in Paris.
ASALA's founder Hagop Hagopian
was assassinated on a sidewalk in an affluent neighborhood in Athens
, Greece on April 28, 1988. His body was riddled with several bullets while he was walking with two women at 4:30 in the morning. Tarakchian died of cancer
in 1980. Assassinations of former members continued in Armenia
into the late 1990s.
According to National Intelligence Organization official Nuri Gündeş, ASALA was dissolved after assasination of Hagop Hagopian,other reason is financial backing was withdrawn by the Armenian diaspora after the 1983 Orly airport attack
.
Armenian nationalism
Armenian nationalism in the modern period has its roots in the romantic nationalism of Mikayel Chamchian and generally defined as the creation of a free, independent and united Armenia formulated as the Armenian Cause . Armenian national awakening developed in the 1880s in the context of the...
militant
Militant
The word militant, which is both an adjective and a noun, usually is used to mean vigorously active, combative and aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in 'militant reformers'. It comes from the 15th century Latin "militare" meaning "to serve as a soldier"...
organization, that operated from 1975 to 1986. The group also operated under other names such as The Orly Group and the 3 October Organization. It is considered a terrorist organization by many sources, other sources describe it as guerrilla and armed organization. 46 people were killed and 299 injured as a result of ASALA attacks and assassinations. The stated intention of ASALA was "to compel the Turkish Government to acknowledge publicly its responsibility for the deaths of 1.5 million Armenians
Armenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
in 1915, pay reparations, and cede territory for an Armenian homeland". The principal goal of ASALA was to reestablish historical Armenia that would include eastern Turkey, northern Iran and the Soviet Armenia.
The territory to be ceded would be the area promised to the Armenians at the never-ratified
Ratification
Ratification is a principal's approval of an act of its agent where the agent lacked authority to legally bind the principal. The term applies to private contract law, international treaties, and constitutionals in federations such as the United States and Canada.- Private law :In contract law, the...
Treaty of Sèvres
Treaty of Sèvres
The Treaty of Sèvres was the peace treaty between the Ottoman Empire and Allies at the end of World War I. The Treaty of Versailles was signed with Germany before this treaty to annul the German concessions including the economic rights and enterprises. Also, France, Great Britain and Italy...
in 1920 by US President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
, "Wilsonian Armenia
Wilsonian Armenia
Wilsonian Armenia refers to the boundary configuration of the Armenian state in the Treaty of Sèvres, drawn by US President Woodrow Wilson State Department. The Treaty of Sèvres was a peace treaty that had been drafted and signed between the Western Allied Powers and the defeated government of the...
". ASALA was listed as a terrorist
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
organization by the United States in the 1980s; it is no longer listed as such. The group's mottos were "The armed struggle and right political line are the way to Armenia", "Viva the revolutionary solidarity of oppressed people!"
The group received considerable clandestine support from Armenian diaspora
Armenian diaspora
The Armenian diaspora refers to the Armenian communities outside the Republic of Armenia and self proclaimed de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic...
in Europe and in the USA.
Suffering from internal schisms, the group was relatively inactive in the 1990s, although in 1991 it claimed an unsuccessful attack on the Turkish ambassador to Hungary. The organization has not engaged in militant activity since then.
Origins
Over 60 years had passed since the Ottoman EmpireOttoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
had embarked on the campaign to exterminate its Armenian population, which was largely concentrated in its eastern provinces and referred to at the time as Western Armenia
Western Armenia
Western Armenia is a term, primarily used by Armenians, to refer to Armenian-inhabited areas of the Armenian Highland that were part of the Ottoman Empire and now are part of the Republic of Turkey....
. The survivors of the massacres and deprivations commonly seen in the death marches found refuge in countries in the Middle East and in Western Europe and the USA. While the key ringleaders of the genocide were executed in the 1920s by Armenians, the Ottoman Empire's successor, the Republic of Turkey, effectively took a hold of all the possessions Armenians left behind and for decades vociferously insisted that a genocide had not taken place. It actively campaigned against any and all attempts to publicise the events and bring forward recognition in the West. It, in fact, blamed Armenians for instigating the violence and alleged that Armenians had massacred thousands of Turks, prompting the commencement of their deportations. In 1965, Armenians around the world publicly marked the 50th anniversary and began to campaign for world recognition. As peaceful marches and demonstrations failed to move an intransigent Turkey, the younger generation of Armenians, resentful at the denial by Turkey
Denial of the Armenian Genocide
The denial of the Armenian Genocide is the assertion that the Armenian Genocide did not occur in the manner or to the extent described by scholarship...
and the failure by their parents' generation to effect change, sought new approaches to bringing about recognition and reparations.
In 1973 two Turkish diplomats were assassinated in Los Angeles by Gourgen Yanikian
Gourgen Yanikian
Gourgen Mkrtich Yanikian was an American-Armenian author, engineer and an Armenian Genocide survivor, who assassinated two Turkish consular officials in California in 1973....
, an elderly man who survived the Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
. Behind this act of revenge lay a national reawakening among the scattered Armenians in the world, which had begun in the end of the 1960s and early 1970s. This event might have been progressively forgotten, had it not initiated a chain of events which turned it, and its perpetrator, into a symbol representing the end of the conspiracy of silence which since 1915 had surrounded the Armenian Genocide. ASALA was founded in 1975 in Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
during the Lebanese Civil War
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...
by Hagop Hagopian
Hagop Hagopian
Hagop Hagopian , also Bedros Ohanessian was one of the founders and the main leader of the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia .- Life :...
(Harutiun Tagushian), pastor Rev. James Karnusian
James Karnusian
Rev. James Karnusian was a Swiss-Armenian pastor, writer and public activist, allegedly one of the founders of Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia militant organization....
and Kevork Ajemian, a prominent contemporary writer, with the help of sympathetic Palestinians. At the beginning, ASALA bore the name of "The Prisoner Kurken Yanikian
Gourgen Yanikian
Gourgen Mkrtich Yanikian was an American-Armenian author, engineer and an Armenian Genocide survivor, who assassinated two Turkish consular officials in California in 1973....
Group". Consisting primarily of Lebanese-born Armenians of the Diaspora (whose parents and/or grandparents were survivors of the Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
), the organization followed a theoretical model based on leftist ideology. The apex of group's structure was the General Command of the People of Armenia (VAN).
The group's activities were primarily assassinations of Turkish diplomats and politicians in Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
, in the United States and the Middle East. Their first acknowledged killing was the assassination of the Turkish diplomat, Daniş Tunalıgil
Danis Tunaligil
Hüseyin Daniş Tunalıgil was a Turkish diplomat. He was assassinated by JCAG in 1975 during his duty as the Turkish ambassador to Austria.-Life and career:...
, in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
on October 22, 1975. A failed attack in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
on October 3, 1980, in which two Armenian militants were injured resulted in a new nickname for the group, the 3 October Organization. The ASALA's eight point manifesto was published in 1981.
ASALA, trained in the Beirut camps of Palestine Liberation Organization
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...
, is the best known of the guerrilla groups responsible for assassinations of at least 36 Turkish diplomats. Since 1975, a couple of dozen Turkish diplomats or members of their families had been targeted in a couple of dozens of attacks, with the outcome that the Armenian revenge, as well as the background to the Armenian struggle, have made it through the world press. These notable acts, while practically carried out by a small group, were successful in conveying the Armenian Genocide and its silence to the forefront of international awareness.
Political objectives
- Force an end to Turkish colonialism, NATO imperialism and ZionismZionismZionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
by using revolutionary violence - Attack institutions and representatives of Turkey and of countries supporting Turkey
- Affirm "scientific socialism" as the main ideology of Armenia
- Use Soviet Armenia as a base against Turkey
Attacks
According to the MIPTNational Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism
The National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism is a United States-based non-profit training and professional development center dedicated to improving the skills of police officers.-Role and focus:...
website, there had been 84 incidents involving ASALA leaving 46 dead and 299 injured, including the following:
- February 16, 1976 in Turkish Embassy in BeirutBeirutBeirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, Oktar Cirit was killed. - October 12, 1979 in Turkish Embassy in the Hague, Ahmet Benler, the son of the Ambassador Özdemir Benler, was killed (This attack was one of the attacks co-claimed by JCAG).
- July 31, 1980 in Turkish Embassy in AthensAthensAthens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Galip Özmen and his 14 year old daughter Neslihan were killed in the Turkish consulate. Galip Özmen's wife Sevil Özmen and their son Kaan survived the attack with injuries. - December 29, 1980 in MadridMadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, a Spanish journalist, assistant director of the "Pueblo" newspaper, José Antonio GurriaránJosé Antonio GurriaránJosé Antonio Gurriarán is a Spanish journalist, assistant director of the "Pueblo" newspaper.Being accidentally injured during an 3 October Organization attack in Madrid, on December 29, 1980, he was interested what the group's purposes were, he found and interviewed Armenian Secret Army for the...
was accidentally injured during an October 3 group attack. Then Gurriarán was interested what the group's purposes were; he found and interviewed ASALA members. In 1982 his "La Bomba" book was published, dedicated to the Armenian cause and Armenian militant's struggle. - March 4, 1981 in the Turkish Embassy in Paris, Reşat Moralı was killed and Tecelli Arı was injured.
- June 9, 1981 in the Turkish Consulate in GenevaGenevaGeneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, Mehmet Savaş Yergüz was killed. - September 24, 1981 in Turkish Consulate in Paris, 56 Turks were held hostage in the embassy by ASALA militants (none of the hostages were harmed), Turkish guard Cemal Özen was killed. ASALA members demanded the Turkish government free Armenian political prisoners within 12 hours and fly them to Paris. After 15 hours they surrendered peacefully requesting political asylum from the French government.
- April 28, 1984 in Turkish Embassy in TehranTehranTehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
, IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Işık Yönder was killed.
One of the most criticized attacks of ASALA was Esenboga airport attack
Esenboğa Airport attack
The Esenboğa International Airport attack was an attack on Esenboğa International Airport in Ankara, Turkey, perpetrated by the "Pierre Gulumian commando" group from the Armenian militant organization ASALA on August 7, 1982....
on August 7, 1982 in Ankara
Ankara
Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million....
, when its members targeted non-diplomat civilians for the first time. Two militants opened fire in a crowded passenger waiting room. One of the shooters took more than 20 hostages while the second was apprehended by police. Altogether, nine people died and 82 were injured. The arrested militant Levon Ekmekjian condemned the ASALA in the aftermath of the attack and appealed to other members to leave and stop the violence.
On August 10, 1982, Artin Penik
Artin Penik
Artin Penik was a Turkish-Armenian who committed suicide by self-immolation in protest of the terrorist Esenboga airport attack by the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia on August 10, 1982.Penik, a 61-year-old, self-employed tailor, set himself on fire in Taksim plaza, the main...
a Turk of Armenian descent
Armenians in Turkey
Armenians in Turkey have an estimated population of 40,000 to 70,000 . Most are concentrated around Istanbul. The Armenians support their own newspapers and schools...
, set himself on fire in protest of this attack.
Prominent Armenian poet Silva Kaputikyan
Silva Kaputikyan
Sirvard Barunaki "Silva" Kaputikyan was a 20th century prominent Armenian poet, writer, academian and public activist....
in 1983 wrote "Its raining my sonny" poem dedicated to the memory of ASALA member Ekmekjian.
On July 15, 1983, the ASALA carried out another attack
Orly airport attack
The Orly Airport attack was the 15 July 1983 bombing of a Turkish Airlines check-in counter at Orly Airport in Paris, France, by the Armenian militant organization ASALA as part of its campaign for the recognition of and reparations for the Armenian Genocide...
at the Orly Airport
Orly Airport
Paris-Orly Airport is an airport located partially in Orly and partially in Villeneuve-le-Roi, south of Paris, France. It has flights to cities in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Caribbean, North America and Southeast Asia. Prior to the construction of Charles de Gaulle Airport, Orly was...
near Paris, in which 8 people were killed, most of them being French citizens. The attack resulted in a split in ASALA, between those individuals who carried it out, and those who believed the attack to be counter productive.
The split resulted in emergence of two groups, the Nationalists (ASALA-Militant) led by Hagopian and the 'Revolutionary Movement' (ASALA-Mouvement Révolutionnaire) led by Monte Melkonian
Monte Melkonian
Monte Melkonian was a famed Armenian commander during Nagorno-Karabakh war. Melkonian had no prior service record in any country's army before being placed in command of an estimated 4,000 men in the war...
. While Melkonian's faction insisted on attacks strictly against Turkish officials and the Turkish government, Hagopian's group disregarded the losses of unintended victims and regularly executed dissenting members.
Afterwards, French forces promptly arrested those involved. Moreover, this attack eliminated the suspected secret agreement that the French socialist government made with ASALA, in which the government would allow ASALA to use France as a base of operations in exchange for refraining from launching attacks on French soil. Belief in this suspected agreement was further bolstered after "Interior Minister Gaston Defferre
Gaston Defferre
Gaston Defferre was a French socialist politician.-Biography:Lawyer and member of the French Section of the Workers' International political party, he was a member of the Brutus Network, a Resistance Socialist group during World War II...
called [ASALA's] cause "just", and four Armenians arrested for taking hostages at the Turkish Embassy in September 1981 were given light sentences."
Reactions
ASALA is blamed by international society especially after the Esenboga airport attack which ASALA terrorists attacked the passengers waiting at the restaurant of the airport and killed 9 passengers. Continuous attacks prompted Turkey to accuse CyprusCyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
, Greece, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, and the Soviet Union of provoking or possibly funding the ASALA. Although they publicly distanced themselves from the ASALA, Turkey's Armenian community came under attack by Turkish nationalists in reaction to the group's actions. This became apparent after the assassination of Ahmet Benler
Ahmet Benler
Ahmet Benler was the son of Özdemir Benler, the Turkish ambassador to Netherlands. He was assassinated on October 12, 1979. His assassination was claimed separately by ASALA and JCAG- Capture and trial of the alleged assassin :...
on October 12, 1979 by Armenian militants in the Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
. The reaction to the attack led to the bombing of the church of the Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
on October 19 in retaliation. In 1980, the Turkish government arrested Armenian priest Fr. Manuel Yergatian at the Istanbul airport for the alleged possession of maps that indicated Armenian territory within modern day Turkey and was sentenced to 14 years in prison for possible ties with ASALA. Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
adopted him as a prisoner of conscience, concluding that the evidence against him was baseless.
In April, 2000 the opening ceremony of "In Memory of killed ASALA commandos" monument took place at Armenian military pantheon with participation of Greek anti-fascist resistance leader Manolis Glezos
Manolis Glezos
Manolis Glezos is a Greek left wing politician and writer, worldwide known especially for his participation in the World War II resistance.- 1939 - 1945 :...
and other special guests.
Counteroffensive
After the ASALA attack against the Esenboğa International AirportEsenboga International Airport
Esenboğa International Airport , is an airport located northeast of Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. It has been operating since 1955. The name of the airport comes from the village of Esenboğa , which literally means "flying bull"....
in August 1982 the then President of Turkey Kenan Evren
Kenan Evren
Ahmet Kenan Evren was the seventh President of Turkey; a post he assumed by leading the 1980 military coup. He was also the last president to be born in the Ottoman Empire.- Biography :...
issued a decree for the elimination of ASALA. The task was given to the National Intelligence Organization's Foreign Operations Department. Evren's own daughter, a member of the MİT, ran the operation together with Foreign Intelligence Department chief Metin (Mete) Günyol, and Istanbul region director Nuri Gündeş.
Levon Ekmekjian was captured and placed in Ankara's Mamak Prison. He was told that he had to choose between confessing and being executed. After being promised that his comrades would not be harmed, he revealed how the ASALA worked to a team led by MİT's Presidential Liaison and Evren's son-in-law, Erkan Gürvit. He was executed nevertheless.
In the early Spring of 1983 two teams were sent to France and Lebanon. Günyol tapped contract killer Abdullah Çatlı
Abdullah Çatli
Abdullah Çatlı was a Turkish convicted drug trafficker, and contract killer for the Counter-Guerrilla. He led the youth branch of the Nationalist Movement Party...
, who had just finished serving a prison sentence in Switzerland for drug trafficking, to lead the French contingent. Günyol says he did not reveal his identity to Çatlı, who referred to him as "Colonel", thinking Günyol used to be a soldier.
A second French unit was assembled under MİT operative Sabah Ketene. The Lebanese contingent, consisting only of MİT operatives and members of the "Special Warfare Department" (special forces
Special forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
), was led by MİT officer Hiram Abas.
Çatlı's team was planted in Ara Toranyan's car on 22 March 1983 did not explode. A follow-up attempt also failed. Toranyan said they had planted the bomb in the wrong car. Likewise, Henri Papazyan's car bomb on 1 May 1984 did not explode. Çatlı claimed credit for killing Hagop Hagopian, however he was in a French prison (again, on narcotics charges) at the time of the attack. Papazyan is now believed to have been killed as a result of infighting. The second French team (led by Ketene) did carry out some attacks (which Çatlı also claimed credit for), such as the 1984 Alfortville monument and Salle Pleyel concert room attacks. It is unknown whether the Lebanese contingent did anything at all.
Hagopian was assassinated by in succsessful attack of Turkish contrterror team.
Hagopian was assassinated outside his home in Athens' Palaio Faliro suburb at 4:30 a.m. on April 28, 1988, while he was waiting for a taxi to take him to the airport for a flight to Belgrade. He was accompanied by his sister-in-law, who was not hurt.
A Greek police official said two armed men got out of a parked car as Hagopian walked out of his apartment building, carrying his luggage. One of the two men opened fire with the sawed-off shotgun, wounding Hagopian in the chest and elbow. As Hagopian tried to flee, the killer ran after him and fired two more slugs into his head and chest. The attack was planned and led by Mete Günyol
Dissolution
With the Israeli invasion of Lebanon1982 Lebanon War
The 1982 Lebanon War , , called Operation Peace for Galilee by Israel, and later known in Israel as the Lebanon War and First Lebanon War, began on 6 June 1982, when the Israel Defense Forces invaded southern Lebanon...
in 1982 the group lost much of its organization and support. Sympathetic Palestinian organizations including the Palestine Liberation Organization
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...
(PLO) withdrew their support and passed materials to the French intelligence services in 1983, detailing ASALA operatives. The last attack, on 19 December 1991, targeted the bullet-proof limousine carrying the Turkish Ambassador to Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
. The ambassador was not injured in the attack, which was claimed by ASALA in Paris.
ASALA's founder Hagop Hagopian
Hagop Hagopian
Hagop Hagopian , also Bedros Ohanessian was one of the founders and the main leader of the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia .- Life :...
was assassinated on a sidewalk in an affluent neighborhood in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Greece on April 28, 1988. His body was riddled with several bullets while he was walking with two women at 4:30 in the morning. Tarakchian died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in 1980. Assassinations of former members continued in Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
into the late 1990s.
According to National Intelligence Organization official Nuri Gündeş, ASALA was dissolved after assasination of Hagop Hagopian,other reason is financial backing was withdrawn by the Armenian diaspora after the 1983 Orly airport attack
Orly airport attack
The Orly Airport attack was the 15 July 1983 bombing of a Turkish Airlines check-in counter at Orly Airport in Paris, France, by the Armenian militant organization ASALA as part of its campaign for the recognition of and reparations for the Armenian Genocide...
.