Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia

The Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA) was a Marxist-Leninist Armenian militant 



  front, that operated from 1975 to the 1990s. ASALA's stated intent 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".

ASALA was founded in 1975 in Beirut, Lebanon by Hagop Hagopian – also known as Harutiun Tagushian – and Kevork Ajemian,Kevork Ajemian, Prominent Contemporary Writer and Surviving Member of Triumvirate Which Founded ASALA, Dies in Beirut, Lebanon // The Armenian Reporter, 01-02-1999 a prominent contemporary writer.

The group's activities were primarily assassinations of Turkish diplomats and politicians in Western Europe, the United States and the broader Middle East. A failed attack in Geneva on October 3, 1980, where 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.

Continuous attacks prompted Turkey to accuse Cyprus, Greece, Syria, Lebanon and the Soviet Union of provoking or possibly funding the ASALA, 

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Related pages
 Gourgen Yanikian

Other websites
GlobalSecurity site: ASALA

References

Category:1975 establishments
Category:Anti-Turkism
Category:Armenian genocide
Category:Rebel militia groups in Asia
Category:Terrorism