Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia
Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) was a militant organization active between 1975 and the 1990s whose stated goal was "to compel the Turkish Government to acknowledge publicly its responsibility for the Armenian genocide in 1915, pay reparations, and cede territory for an Armenian homeland." ASALA itself and other sources described it as a guerilla and armed organization. Some sources, including the United States Department of State, as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan listed it as a terrorist organization.
| Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) Հայաստանի Ազատագրութեան Հայ Գաղտնի Բանակ (ՀԱՀԳԲ) | |
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Logo of ASALA | |
| Leader | Hagop Hagopian (1975–1988) |
| Dates of operation | 1975–1991 according to Turkish Intelligence (MİT) |
| Motives | "To compel the Turkish Government to acknowledge publicly its responsibility for the Armenian genocide in 1915, pay reparations, and cede territory for an Armenian homeland." |
| Active regions | Lebanon, Western Europe, Greece, United States, Turkey |
| Ideology | Communism Marxism-Leninism Armenian nationalism Left-wing nationalism Revolutionary socialism |
| Political position | Left-wing to far-left |
| Notable attacks | Paris Turkish consulate attack (1981) Esenboğa Airport attack (1982) Orly Airport attack (1983) |
| Allies | PLO PFLP Syria Lebanese National Resistance Front |
| Opponents | Turkey Israel Azerbaijan Lebanese Forces |
| Flag | |
The principal goal of ASALA was to establish a United Armenia that would include the formerly Armenian-inhabited six vilayets of the Ottoman Empire (Western Armenia) and Soviet Armenia. The group sought to claim the area (called Wilsonian Armenia) that was promised to the Armenians by American President Woodrow Wilson in the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres, following the Armenian genocide, during which Ottoman Turks murdered 1.5 million Armenians, which Turkey openly denies.
ASALA attacks and assassinations resulted in the deaths of 46 people and 299 injured, mostly individuals serving the Turkish government. The organization has also claimed responsibility for more than 50 bomb attacks. 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. ASALA's last and most recent attack took place in Brussels in 1997, where a group of militants claiming to be ASALA bombed the Turkish Embassy in the city. The organization has not engaged in militant activity since then. The group's mottos were "The armed struggle and right political line are the way to Armenia" and "Viva the revolutionary solidarity of oppressed people!"