View source for Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia

{{short description|Armenian militant organization that operated from 1975 to the early 1990s}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{Infobox militant organization
| name             = Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA)<br />{{lang|hy|Հայաստանի Ազատագրութեան Հայ Գաղտնի Բանակ (ՀԱՀԳԲ)}}
| logo             = ASALA logo.svg
| caption          = Logo of ASALA
| dates            = 1975–1991 according to [[National Intelligence Organization (Turkey)|Turkish Intelligence (MİT)]]
| leader           = [[Hagop Hagopian (guerilla)|Hagop Hagopian]] <small>(1975–1988)</small><ref name="MIPT"/>
| 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."<ref name="hunsicker">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K4XefrTlSygC&q=%22to+compel+the+Turkish+Government+to+acknowledge+publicly+its+alleged+responsibility+for+the+Armenian+Genocide+in+1915,+pay+reparations,+and+cede+territory+for+an+Armenian+homeland%22&pg=PA431|title=Understanding International Counter Terrorism|publisher=Universal-Publishers|last=Hunsicker|isbn=1-58112-905-X|pages=431|year=2006|access-date=2020-11-24|archive-date=2021-01-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101013059/https://books.google.com/books?id=K4XefrTlSygC&q=%22to+compel+the+Turkish+Government+to+acknowledge+publicly+its+alleged+responsibility+for+the+Armenian+Genocide+in+1915%2C+pay+reparations%2C+and+cede+territory+for+an+Armenian+homeland%22&pg=PA431|url-status=live}}</ref>
| ideology         = [[Marxism–Leninism]]<br>[[Armenian nationalism]]<br>[[United Armenia]]<br>[[Left-wing nationalism]]<br>[[Revolutionary socialism]]
| position         = [[Left-wing politics|Left-wing]] to [[Far-left politics|far-left]]
| area             = Lebanon, Western Europe, Greece, United States, Turkey
| attacks          = [[1981 Turkish consulate attack in Paris|Paris Turkish consulate attack]] (1981) <br /> [[Esenboğa International Airport attack|Esenboğa Airport attack]] (1982) <br /> [[1983 Orly Airport attack|Orly Airport attack]] (1983)
| allies           = {{flag|Greece}}<br>{{flag|Cyprus}}<br>{{flag|Armenia}}<br>{{flag|PLO}}<br>{{flag|PFLP}}<br>{{flagicon image|Flag of Kurdistan Workers' Party.svg}} [[Kurdistan Workers' Party|PKK]]<br>{{flagcountry|Ba'athist Syria}}<br />{{flagicon image|Lebanese National Resistance Front.jpg}} [[Lebanese National Resistance Front]]
| flag             = [[File:Flag of ASALA.png|150px]]
| opponents        = {{flag|Turkey}}<br />{{flag|Israel}}<br />{{flag|Azerbaijan}}<br />{{flagicon image|Flag of the Lebanese Forces.svg}} [[Lebanese Forces (militia)|Lebanese Forces]]
}}
'''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 [[Government of Turkey|Turkish Government]] to acknowledge publicly its responsibility for the [[Armenian genocide]] in 1915, [[Armenian genocide reparations|pay reparations]], and [[Western Armenia|cede territory for an Armenian homeland]]."<ref>{{Cite book | title = Patterns of Global Terrorism Report – 1996 | chapter = Appendix B | author = U.S. Department of State| title-link = s:Patterns of Global Terrorism Report/1996 }}</ref> ASALA itself<ref>Jürgen Gottschlich: Beihilfe zum Völkermord: Deutschlands Rolle bei der Vernichtung der Armenier. Christoph Links-Verlag, 2015. {{ISBN|978-3-86153-817-2}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=bx6GBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA286 Digitalisat] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231010162955/https://books.google.com/books?id=bx6GBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA286 |date=2023-10-10 }}</ref> and other sources<ref>Political dissent: an international guide to dissident, extra-parliamentary, guerrilla, and illegal political movements, by Henry W. Degenhardt, Alan John Day, Gale Research Company, 1983, p. 489</ref><ref>''Remembering with Vengeance'', by [[Pico Iyer]] – ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', № 32, 8 August 1983</ref><ref>The Caucasus: an introduction, by Frederik Coene, 2009 – 238 pages, p. 221</ref><ref>The history of Turkey, by Douglas Arthur Howard – 2001 – 241 pages, p. 161</ref> described it as a guerilla and armed<ref>Untold Histories of the Middle East, by Amy Singer, Christoph Neumann, Selcuk Somel – 2010 – 240 pages, p. 27</ref> organization. Some sources, including the [[United States Department of State]],<ref name=":2">United States Department of State. [http://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=481506 Patterns of Global Terrorism Report: 1989] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219060141/http://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=481506|date=2014-02-19}}, p 57</ref>  as well as the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Azerbaijan)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.az/eng/armenian_aggresion/terrorism.shtml |title=Armenian Aggression Against Azerbaijan |access-date=December 19, 2021 |archive-date=June 25, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625052556/http://www.mfa.gov.az/eng/armenian_aggresion/terrorism.shtml |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> listed it as a [[terrorist organization]].<ref name="jessup">{{Cite book|last=Jessup|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jh3Q5F7BaB8C&pg=PA39|title=An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Conflict and Conflict Resolution, 1945-1996|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=1998|isbn=0-313-28112-2|pages=39|quote=''A leftist separatist terrorist group that, before 1984, was quite active in the European area, ASALA began its operations before 1975.''|access-date=2020-12-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101013059/https://books.google.com/books?id=jh3Q5F7BaB8C&pg=PA39|archive-date=2021-01-01|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{ISBN|0-313-28112-2}}, {{ISBN|978-0-313-28112-9}}, p. 39</ref><ref>Michel Wieviorka, David Gordon White. The making of terrorism. University of Chicago Press, 1993. {{ISBN|0-226-89650-1}}, {{ISBN|978-0-226-89650-2}}, p. 256</ref><ref>Bruce Hoffman. Inside terrorism. Columbia University Press, 2006. {{ISBN|0-231-12699-9}}, {{ISBN|978-0-231-12699-1}}, p. 71</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Göçek|first1=Fatma Müge|title=The Transformation of Turkey: Redefining State and the Society from the Ottoman Empire to the Modern Era|date=2011|publisher=I.B. Tauris|page=151}}</ref>

The principal goal of ASALA was to establish a [[United Armenia]] that would include the formerly [[Armenians|Armenian]]-inhabited [[six vilayets]] of the [[Ottoman Empire]] ([[Western Armenia]]) and [[Soviet Armenia]].<ref name="Terrorist Group Profiles 1989. p. 32">Terrorist Group Profiles. DIANE Publishing, 1989. p. 32</ref> 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 Empire|Ottoman Turks]] murdered 1.5 million [[Armenians]],<ref>Pitman, Paul M. ''Turkey: A Country Study''. Washington, D.C.: The Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress, 283, 354–355 {{oclc|17841957}}</ref> which Turkey [[Armenian genocide denial|openly denies]].

ASALA attacks and assassinations resulted in the deaths of 46 people and 299 injured, mostly individuals serving the [[Government of Turkey|Turkish government]]. The organization has also claimed responsibility for more than 50 bomb attacks.<ref>{{Cite web|title=27 May 1988|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/05/27/Terrorists-claim-leaders-murder-solved/5154580708800/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200327181759/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1988/05/27/Terrorists-claim-leaders-murder-solved/5154580708800/|archive-date=27 March 2020|access-date=20 October 2020|website=United Press International}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fas.org/irp/threat/terror_97/eurasia.html|title=Patterns of Global Terrorism: 1997: Europe and Eurasia Overview|last=Federation of American Scientists|website=FAS|access-date=April 11, 2019|archive-date=April 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411155351/https://fas.org/irp/threat/terror_97/eurasia.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The organization has not engaged in militant activity since then.<ref>[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/asala.htm Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422114607/http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/asala.htm |date=2009-04-22 }}. GlobalSecurity.org</ref> 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!"<ref>{{in lang|hy}} G. Yazchian, ''Thirty years ago this day was born ASALA'', Azg daily, Yerevan, January 20, 2005</ref>

==Origins and history==
{{see also|Armenian genocide}}
[[File:Den armenske leder Papasian ved Der-ez-Zor - PA 0699 U 36 150 (restored).jpg|thumb|"The Armenian leader Papasian considers the last remnants of the horrific murders at [[Deir ez-Zor camps|Deir ez-Zor]] in 1915-1916."]]
The presence of [[Armenians]] in eastern [[Anatolia]], often called [[Western Armenia]], is documented since the [[9th century BC|ninth century BCE]], almost two millennia prior to the [[Turkic migration|Turkish presence in the area]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Suny |first1=Ronald Grigor|authorlink=Ronald Grigor Suny |title=Looking Toward Ararat: Armenia in Modern History |date=1993 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-20773-9 |pages=3, 30 |language=en}}</ref> In 1915 and 1916, the ruling [[Committee of Union and Progress]] of the [[Ottoman Empire]] systematically deported and exterminated its Armenian population, killing around 1.5 million Armenians.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Ekmekçioğlu |first1=Lerna |title=Recovering Armenia: The Limits of Belonging in Post-Genocide Turkey |date=2016 |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-8047-9706-1 |language=en|page=4}}</ref> The survivors of the [[death marches]] found refuge in other countries in [[Western Asia]], as well as in Western Europe and North America; forces of the [[Turkish nationalist movement]] killed or expelled surviving Armenians that tried to return home.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Avedian |first1=Vahagn |title=State Identity, Continuity, and Responsibility: The Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Turkey and the Armenian Genocide |journal=[[European Journal of International Law]] |date=2012 |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=797–820 |doi=10.1093/ejil/chs056|doi-access=free }}</ref> The Republic of Turkey denied that any crime had been committed against the Armenian people, actively campaigning against any and all attempts to publicise the events and bring about recognition in the West. It blamed Armenians for instigating the violence and falsely claimed that Armenians had massacred thousands of Turks, prompting the commencement of their deportations.<ref name=Moussalt/>

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 of the Armenian Genocide|denial by Turkey]] and the failure by their parents' generation to effect change, sought new approaches to bringing about [[Armenian genocide recognition|recognition]] and reparations.<ref name=Moussalt>Paul Moussault (red.) & Barbara Sahakian, [https://books.google.com/books?id=zXZ_rgEACAAJ&q=ASALA+de+Nemesis+voor+de+Armeense+genocide.+Stadsguerrilla+tegen+Turkije “ASALA de Nemesis voor de Armeense genocide. Stadsguerrilla tegen Turkije (1975–1988)”] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511060010/https://books.google.com/books?id=zXZ_rgEACAAJ&q=ASALA+de+Nemesis+voor+de+Armeense+genocide.+Stadsguerrilla+tegen+Turkije |date=2023-05-11 }}, Amsterdam, 2015. {{ISBN|978-90-6728-307-6}}</ref>

In 1973, two Turkish diplomats were assassinated in [[Los Angeles]] by [[Kourken Yanigian]], an elderly man who survived the [[Armenian genocide]]. This event might have been 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.<ref name="JCSS">{{Cite book | last = Kurz & Merari | first = Anat & Ariel | title = JCSS Study No. 2 ASALA – Irrational Terror or Political Tool | work=The Jerusalem Post | year = 1985 | location = Jerusalem | pages = 3 |isbn=0-8133-0324-9|quote= The ideology informing ASALA's activities is therefore nationalistic and leftist, with a strong accent on motives such as revenge on Turkey, and on forcing the world to recognize the historic injustice inflicted on the Armenians.}}</ref> ASALA was founded in 1975 (thought to correspond to the 60th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide)<ref name=":13">{{Cite book|title=Armenian terrorism : the past, the present, the prospects|last=Hyland, Francis P.|date=1991|publisher=Westview Press|oclc=466448724}}</ref> in [[Beirut]], [[Lebanon]] during the [[Lebanese Civil War]] by [[Hagop Hagopian (guerilla)|Hagop Hagopian]] (Harutiun Tagushian) and [[Kevork Ajemian]],<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20121104104042/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-22427363.html Kevork Ajemian, Prominent Contemporary Writer and Surviving Member of Triumvirate Which Founded ASALA, Dies in Beirut, Lebanon]", ''Armenian Reporter'', 1999-02-01</ref> a prominent contemporary writer, with the help of sympathetic [[Palestinians]].<ref name="countrystudy">"[http://countrystudies.us/turkey/85.htm Political Interest Groups] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604155613/http://countrystudies.us/turkey/85.htm |date=2011-06-04 }}", ''[http://countrystudies.us/turkey/ Turkey: A Country Study] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722203451/http://countrystudies.us/turkey/ |date=2011-07-22 }}'' ed. [[Helen Chapin Metz]]. Washington, D.C.: The Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress, 283, 354–355 {{oclc|17841957}}</ref> Another major figure in the establishment of ASALA was Hagop Darakjian, who was a driving force in the earlier operations of the group. Darakjian headed the group for a period of time between 1976 and 1977 when Hagopian was unable to lead due to injuries sustained from his involvement with the Palestinians.<ref name=":13"/> At the beginning, ASALA bore the name of "The Prisoner [[Kourken Yanigian|Kurken Yanikian]] Group".<ref>Near East/South Asia Report, by United States Foreign Broadcast Information Service, United States Joint Publications Research Service, 1987, p. 3</ref> Consisting primarily of Lebanese-born Armenians of the Diaspora (whose parents and/or grandparents were survivors of the genocide), the organization followed a theoretical model based on [[leftism|leftist ideology]].<ref>Roy, Olivier. ''Turkey Today: A European Nation?'' p. 169.</ref> ASALA was critical of its political predecessors and Diasporan parties, accusing them of failing to deal with the problems of the Armenian people.<ref>Armenians in London: The Management of Social Boundaries, by Vered Amit Talai, Vered Amit, Manchester University Press, 1989, p. 27</ref> The apex of the group's structure was the General Command of the People of Armenia (''VAN'').<ref>The Middle East Annual: Issues & Events, 1984, edited by David H. Partington, p. 155</ref>

The group's activities were primarily assassinations of Turkish diplomats and politicians in Western Europe, the United States and Western Asia.<ref name="countrystudy" /> 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. ASALA's eight-point manifesto was published in 1981.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}}
ASALA, trained in the Beirut camps of the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]], is the best known of the guerrilla groups responsible for assassinations of at least 36 Turkish diplomats.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,955176,00.html |access-date=2008-09-02 |title=Long Memories |magazine=TIME |date=1983-08-08 |author=Iyer, Pico |volume=32 |archive-date=2016-03-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311023746/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,955176,00.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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 vengeance, as well as the background to the Armenian struggle, have made it to the world press. These notable acts, while carried out by a small group, were successful in conveying the Armenian Genocide to the forefront of international awareness.<ref name="JCSS" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/10/25/archives/turks-ambassador-murdered-in-paris-2d-slain-in-2-days-turkeys-envoy.html|title=Turks' Ambassador Murdered in Paris; 2d Slain in 2 Days|work=The New York Times|date=25 October 1975|accessdate=2022-05-17|archive-date=2022-05-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517194109/https://www.nytimes.com/1975/10/25/archives/turks-ambassador-murdered-in-paris-2d-slain-in-2-days-turkeys-envoy.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Political objectives==
The main two political goals of ASALA were to get Turkey to [[Armenian genocide denial|recognize its culpability for the Armenian Genocide]] in 1915 and to establish a [[United Armenia]], which would unite nearby regions formerly under Armenian control or with large Armenian populations. Additionally, ASALA stated in a Cypriot newspaper in 1983 that it supported the [[Soviet Union]] and aimed to garner support from other Soviet republics toward the cause of eliminating Turkish colonialism.<ref name=":13"/> These goals helped shape the following political objectives:

# Force an end to Turkish colonialism by using revolutionary violence
# Attack institutions and representatives of Turkey and of countries supporting Turkey
# Affirm ''[[scientific socialism]]'' as the main ideology of [[Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic|Armenia]]<ref name="Terrorist Group Profiles 1989. p. 32" />

Historian [[Fatma Müge Göçek]] describes the stated aims of ASALA as "righteous" but the means sought for these aims, i.e. the "wilful murder [of] innocent people" as not righteous, and thus argues that it was a terrorist organisation.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Göçek |first1=Fatma Müge |title=The Transformation of Turkey: Redefining State and the Society from the Ottoman Empire to the Modern Era |date=2011 |publisher=I.B. Tauris |pages=251–2}}</ref>

The [[United States Department of State|U.S. Department of State]], under President [[Ronald Reagan]] — as well as the militants themselves — attributed ASALA's deeds to Turkey's open [[Armenian genocide denial|denial]] of the [[Armenian genocide]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Fortier|first=Donald|title=Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Digital Library Collections, Collection: "Fortier, Donald: Files," Folder Title: "Turkish Armenian File: [US Department of State Remarks on the Armenian Genocide]," Box: RAC Box 19|url=https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/public/digitallibrary/smof/nsc-politicalandmilitaryaffairs/fortierd/R19/turkisharmenianfile.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=December 16, 2021|website=Ronald Reagan Presidential Library|pages=8–9; 42|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210210161435/https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/public/digitallibrary/smof/nsc-politicalandmilitaryaffairs/fortierd/R19/turkisharmenianfile.pdf |archive-date=2021-02-10 }}</ref>

==Attacks==
{{main|List of attacks by ASALA}}
[[File:Countries where ASALA made attacks.png|thumb|Countries where ASALA made attacks between 1975 and 1985.]]
According to the [[National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism|MIPT]] website, there had been 84 incidents involving ASALA leaving 46 dead and 299 injured, including the following:<ref name="MIPT">{{cite web|date=15 November 2007|title=MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base|url=http://www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=258|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071115020146/http://www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=258|archive-date=2007-11-15}}</ref>

On October 22, 1975, Turkish Ambassador in [[Austria]], [[Danis Tunaligil]] was assassinated by three members of ASALA. Two days later, the Turkish Ambassador in [[France]], [[Ismail Erez]] and his chauffeur were killed. Both ASALA and [[Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide|JCAG]] claimed responsibility.

The first two ASALA militants, arrested on October 3, 1980, were [[Alex Yenikomshian]] and Suzy Mahserejian, who were wounded after the accidental explosion of a bomb in a hotel in [[Geneva]].<ref>Le Combat armenien: entre terrorisme et utopie : Lausanne, 1923–1983, by Armand Gaspard, L'AGE D'HOMME, 1984, p. 72</ref>

During the [[1981 Turkish consulate attack in Paris]] (''Van operation'') ASALA militants held 56 hostages for fifteen hours; it became the first operation of its kind. Militants demanded release of [[political prisoner]]s in [[Turkey]] including two Armenian clergymen, 5 Turks and 5 Kurds.<ref>Guerilla threat to kill 40 in Paris siege, [[The Sydney Morning Herald]], Sep. 25, 1981, p. 3</ref> Coverage of the takeover received one of the highest television ratings in France in 1981.<ref>Children of Armenia, by M. Bobelian, [[Simon & Schuster]], 2009, p. 159</ref> Among those who supported the militants during the trial were [[Henri Verneuil]],<ref>Le procés des Arméniens, Paris, traduit du français par Grigor Djanikian, editions VMV-Print, Erevan, 2010, p. 200</ref> Mélinée Manouchian, the widow of the [[French resistance]] hero, [[Missak Manouchian]], and singer [[Liz Sarian]].

One of the most known 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 attack in its aftermath and appealed to other members of ASALA to stop the violence.

On August 10, 1982, [[Artin Penik]] a [[Armenians in Turkey|Turk of Armenian descent]], set himself on fire in protest of this attack.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Oran|first=Baskın|date=2006-12-17|title=The Reconstruction of Armenian Identity in Turkey and the Weekly Agos (Interview with Hrant Dink)|work=Nouvelles d'Armenie|url=http://www.armenews.com/article.php3?id_article=27696|url-status=dead|access-date=2008-09-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216131828/http://www.armenews.com/article.php3?id_article=27696|archive-date=2012-02-16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Armenian Issue: Chronology|url=http://www.kultur.gov.tr/EN/BelgeGoster.aspx?17A16AE30572D313A781CAA92714FCE0A3216081A23BEF0D|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090523010926/http://www.kultur.gov.tr/EN/BelgeGoster.aspx?17A16AE30572D313A781CAA92714FCE0A3216081A23BEF0D|archive-date=May 23, 2009|access-date=2007-02-21|publisher=[[Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=He was an Armenian: Artin Penik|url=http://www.turkishjournal.com/i.php?newsid=361|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070305044323/http://www.turkishjournal.com/i.php?newsid=361|archive-date=5 March 2007|access-date=2007-02-21|work=Turkish Journal}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=1982-08-15|title=Armenian Dies from Self-Inflicted Burns|agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref>

On July 15, 1983, ASALA carried out an [[1983 Orly Airport attack|attack]] at the [[Orly Airport]] near Paris, in which 8 people were killed and 55 were injured, most of them not being Turks.<ref>Brian Forst, Jack R. Greene, James P. Lynch. Criminologists on Terrorism and Homeland Security. Cambridge University Press, 2011. {{ISBN|978-0-521-89945-1}}, p. 431</ref><ref>Council of Europe, Documents, Vol. 1, May 1984, Report by Amadei, p. 9</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Incident Summary for GTDID: 198307150003|url=https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/IncidentSummary.aspx?gtdid=198307150003|access-date=2019-04-11|website=www.start.umd.edu|archive-date=2020-10-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023073736/https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/IncidentSummary.aspx?gtdid=198307150003|url-status=live}}</ref> The attack resulted in a split in ASALA, between those individuals who carried it out, and those who believed the attack to be counterproductive.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Baghdasaryan|first=Edik|date=2007-11-26|title=He Was a Man Deeply Connected to the Natural World|work=Hetq Online|url=http://www.hetq.am/eng/society/7332/|url-status=dead|access-date=2008-09-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090522021904/http://hetq.am/eng/society/7332/|archive-date=2009-05-22}}</ref>
The split resulted in emergence of two groups, the ''ASALA-Militant'' led by Hagopian and the 'Revolutionary Movement' (''ASALA-Mouvement Révolutionnaire'') led by [[Monte Melkonian]].<ref>[[Harvey W. Kushner]]. Encyclopedia of terrorism. SAGE, 2002. {{ISBN|0-7619-2408-6}}, {{ISBN|978-0-7619-2408-1}}, p. 47</ref> 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.<ref>"[https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/09/world/around-the-world-french-hold-armenians-in-orly-airport-bombing.html French Hold Armenians In Orly Airport Bombing] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200518224423/https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/09/world/around-the-world-french-hold-armenians-in-orly-airport-bombing.html |date=2020-05-18 }}", [[Associated Press]], ''[[The New York Times]]'', October 9, 1983.</ref> Moreover, this attack eliminated the suspected secret agreement that the French 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."<ref>Echikson, William. "[https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/csmonitor_historic/access/260828642.html?dids=260828642:260828642&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Jul+19%2C+1983&author=By+William+Echikson+Special+to+The+Christian+Science+Monitor&pub=Christian+Science+Monitor&desc=Armenian+bombing+at+Orly+ends+pact+between+Socialists+and+terrorists&pqatl=google Armenian bombing at Orly ends pact between Socialists and terrorists] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021051818/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/csmonitor_historic/access/260828642.html?dids=260828642:260828642&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=Jul+19,+1983&author=By+William+Echikson+Special+to+The+Christian+Science+Monitor&pub=Christian+Science+Monitor&desc=Armenian+bombing+at+Orly+ends+pact+between+Socialists+and+terrorists&pqatl=google |date=2012-10-21 }}", ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'', July 19, 1983.</ref> France was free of ASALA attacks after this concession until the government arrested suspected bomber Vicken Tcharkutian. ASALA only agreed to temporarily halt its attacks once more when France did not [[Extradition|extradite]] Tcharkutian to the United States.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Central Intelligence Agency|date=1984|title=The Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia: A Continuing International Threat|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP85T00283R000400030009-2.pdf|access-date=April 11, 2019|archive-date=November 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128180933/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP85T00283R000400030009-2.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

ASALA interacted and negotiated with a number of other European governments during its peak in order to make political or organizational gains. ASALA stopped its attacks in [[Switzerland]] on two occasions in order to expedite the release of certain Armenian prisoners, as well as after a Swiss judge disagreed with the Turkish government's refusal to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide and other abuses of the Armenian people. Additionally, ASALA negotiated with the [[Italy|Italian]] government in 1979 in exchange for a halt in attacks provided that Italy close its Armenian emigration offices. When Italy agreed to ASALA's request, it saw no further attacks from the group.<ref name=":0" />

ASALA's last attack, on 19 December 1991, targeted the bulletproof limousine carrying the Turkish Ambassador to Budapest. The ambassador was not injured in the attack, which was claimed by ASALA in Paris. Since this attack, the militant organization is considered not active thus USA or UK do not include ASALA in their list of foreign terrorist organizations anymore.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Proscribed terrorist groups or organisations |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/proscribed-terror-groups-or-organisations--2 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107032527/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/proscribed-terror-groups-or-organisations--2 |archive-date=7 January 2021 |access-date=6 January 2021 |website=Government of UK}}</ref>

===Reactions===
Continuous attacks by ASALA prompted Turkey to accuse [[Cyprus]], Greece, [[Syria]], [[Lebanon]], and the Soviet Union of provoking or possibly funding ASALA.<ref name="countrystudy" /> Although they publicly distanced themselves from ASALA,<ref name="countrystudy" /> 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.<ref name="azadhye">[[Tessa Hofmann|Tessa, Hofmann]]. [http://www.armenian.ch/asa/Docs/faae02.pdf Armenians in Turkey today] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024011222/http://www.armenian.ch/asa/Docs/faae02.pdf |date=2020-10-24 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="azadhye" /> According to [[Tessa Hofmann]], Turkish officials frequently used the accusation of collaboration with ASALA and foreign Armenian circles to incriminate extreme left-wing Turkish opposition groups.<ref name="azadhye" /> Israel used the attacks of ASALA against Turkey as a diplomatic tool to heal rifts in relations between Israel and Turkey; Israeli diplomats condemned terrorist acts such as the killing of Ekurt Akbay, the administrative attaché of the Turkish embassy in Lisbon, in June 1982 and appealed to the Turkish government by emphasising Israel's and Turkey's shared history of being targeted by terrorist organisations to foster cooperation between the two nations.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ben Aharon |first1=Eldad |date=4 July 2018 |title=Superpower by invitation: late Cold War diplomacy and leveraging Armenian terrorism as a means to rapprochement in Israeli-Turkish relations (1980–1987) |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14682745.2018.1483342 |journal=[[Cold War History (journal)|Cold War History]] |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=275–293 |doi=10.1080/14682745.2018.1483342 |hdl=1887/81165 |s2cid=218575454 |access-date=15 February 2023 |hdl-access=free |archive-date=16 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230216080903/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14682745.2018.1483342 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In April 2000 the opening ceremony of "In Memory of killed ASALA commandos" monument took place at Armenian military pantheon [[Yerablur]] with participation of Greek anti-fascist resistance leader [[Manolis Glezos]] and other special guests.<ref>Arax Monthly, No. 4, 2000, Tehran, p. 4</ref> {{clarify|date=September 2014}}

===Counteroffensive===
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[[File:Fallen_Diplomats_Memorial_Ottawa.jpg|thumb|Memorial to the fallen diplomats at the site of the attack on Atilla Altıkat in [[Ottawa|Ottawa, Canada]].]]
After the ASALA attack against the [[Esenboğa International Airport]] 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 (Turkey)|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]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Mercan|first=Faruk|author-link=Faruk Mercan|date=2004-09-06|title=Asala operasyonlarını Kenan Evren'in kızı yönetti|url=http://www.aksiyon.com.tr/detay.php?id=15119|url-status=dead|journal=[[Aksiyon]]|language=tr|publisher=Feza Gazetecilik A.Ş.|volume=509|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060426171629/http://www.aksiyon.com.tr/detay.php?id=15119|archive-date=April 26, 2006|access-date=2008-12-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=2004-09-08|title=Evren: Kızım MİT'te çalışıyordu|language=tr|work=Sabah|url=http://www.sabah.com.tr/2004/09/08/siy112.html|url-status=dead|access-date=2008-12-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090616050947/http://www.sabah.com.tr/2004/09/08/siy112.html|archive-date=June 16, 2009}}</ref>

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 ASALA worked to a team led by MİT's Presidential Liaison and Evren's son-in-law, Erkan Gürvit. He was tried by Ankara martial law command military court, and sentenced to death. His appeal of the sentence was declined, and he was hanged on 29 January 1983.<ref>BBC, February 2, 1983. Armenian terrorist executed in [[Turkey]].</ref><ref>{{cite news|agency=Reuters|date=30 January 1983|title=Turkey Executes 5, Including an Armenian|page=5|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/30/world/around-the-world-turkey-executes-5-including-an-armenian.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/T/Terrorism|access-date=15 September 2012|archive-date=20 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120055235/https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/30/world/around-the-world-turkey-executes-5-including-an-armenian.html?n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FSubjects%2FT%2FTerrorism|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="efsane">{{Cite news|last=Kilic|first=Ecevit|date=2008-09-28|title=ASALA operasyonları efsane mi?|language=tr|work=Sabah|url=http://arsiv.sabah.com.tr/2008/09/28/haber,B5E3B51FA2F94618A781886CB7B3B590.html|url-status=live|access-date=2008-12-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204043721/http://arsiv.sabah.com.tr/2008/09/28/haber%2CB5E3B51FA2F94618A781886CB7B3B590.html|archive-date=4 December 2008}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Erdem|first=Ali Kemal|date=2007-10-17|title=Çatlı'yı kullandık ve başarılı oldu|language=tr|work=Sabah|url=http://arsiv.sabah.com.tr/2007/10/17//haber,D6295FFF00984E8D827CBD646EDB8918.html|url-status=live|access-date=2009-01-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204081257/http://arsiv.sabah.com.tr/2007/10/17/haber%2CD6295FFF00984E8D827CBD646EDB8918.html|archive-date=4 February 2009|quote=Benim gerçek kimliğim mi? Bunu hiçbir zaman bilmedi. Bana 'Albayım' derdi, çünkü beni askerlikten ayrılmış sanıyordu}}</ref>
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]].<ref name="efsane" /><!-- Avrupa'da eylem yapacak birinci ekibin ülkücü Abdullah Çatlı ve arkadaşlarından oluşturulmasına karar verildi. Çatlı'ya teklifi Mete Günyol götürdü. Bir süre önce İsviçre'de uyuşturucu ticaretinden yeni serbest kalan Çatlı teklifi kabul etti. İkinci ekip için ise Nuri Gündeş MİT elemanı Sabah Ketene'yi önerdi. Önerinin kabul edilmesiyle Ketene de ekibini oluşturdu. Yanına sadece iki Türkmen genç aldı. ASALA'nın Beyrut'taki merkezine yönelik eylemler için de ekip kuruldu. Bu ekip tamamen resmi görevlilerden oluşturuldu; MİT ve Özel Harp Dairesi karışımı. Ekip lideri ise MİT yöneticisi Hiram Abas'tı. Ekip altı kişiden oluşuyordu. -->

The bomb that Çatlı's team had 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 (guerilla)|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 Armenian Genocide Memorial bombings|Alfortville monument]] and [[Salle Pleyel]] concert room attacks. It is unknown whether the Lebanese contingent did anything at all.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kilic|first=Ecevit|date=2008-09-28|title=Boş konser salonu bombalandı|language=tr|work=Sabah|url=http://arsiv.sabah.com.tr/2008/09/28/haber,6BC4820941214D84A08DD404742B2C6F.html|url-status=live|access-date=2008-12-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204043711/http://arsiv.sabah.com.tr/2008/09/28/haber%2C6BC4820941214D84A08DD404742B2C6F.html|archive-date=4 December 2008}}</ref>

== Recognition as a terrorist organization and investigations ==
The militant organization is referred to as a terrorist organization in some instances. The United States Department of State classified ASALA militant group as a terrorist organization in their 1989 report archived by [[National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism]]. ASALA militant group is described as a [[Marxism–Leninism|Marxist-Leninist]] Armenian terrorist group formed in 1975.<ref name=":2" />

The [[European Parliament]] named the [[New Armenian Resistance Group]], a secular terrorist group active in Belgium during 70s and 80s, as a key ally to ASALA.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=December 2017|title=EU and Member States' policies and laws on persons suspected of terrorism-related crimes|url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2017/596832/IPOL_STU(2017)596832_EN.pdf|journal=EU Parliament Directorate General for Internal Policies of the Union|access-date=2021-01-06|archive-date=2021-01-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109053722/https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2017/596832/IPOL_STU(2017)596832_EN.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

In January 1984, the CIA labeled members of the ASALA militant organization as terrorists, deeming ASALA a continuing international threat. The Terrorism Analysis Branch of the CIA reported that ASALA posed a growing threat to various U.S. policy interests. It noted that some West European nations were accused of reaching accommodations with ASALA, allowing the militants freedom to target Turkish interests in exchange for promises not to attack their own citizens.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |title=The Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia: A Continuing International Threat |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP85T00283R000400030009-2.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=CIA Archives |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128180933/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP85T00283R000400030009-2.pdf |archive-date=2020-11-28}}</ref> A previous report from September 29, 1983, also highlighted Armenian terrorists, specifically mentioning ASALA, as a growing international threat.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CIA Terrorism Review 1983 |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP84-00893R000100260001-2.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201216072626/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP84-00893R000100260001-2.pdf |archive-date=16 December 2020}}</ref>

The majority of the investigations in the Western countries where the attacks took place were inconclusive and the cases remained unresolved.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|title=From Rep. of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs|url=http://www.mfa.gov.tr/no_364_-ermeni-teroristler-tarafindan-sehit-edilen-diplomatlarimiza-ait-dosynanin-yeniden-acilmasi-hk.en.mfa|access-date=2021-01-06|website=Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs|archive-date=2021-01-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107141226/http://www.mfa.gov.tr/no_364_-ermeni-teroristler-tarafindan-sehit-edilen-diplomatlarimiza-ait-dosynanin-yeniden-acilmasi-hk.en.mfa|url-status=live}}</ref> Australian government told the media that they reopened their investigation into the 1980 assassination of two Turkish diplomats made by ASALA.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Turkey welcomes Australia's move on martyred diplomats|url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/turkey-welcomes-australias-move-on-martyred-diplomats/1676765|access-date=6 January 2021|archive-date=9 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109072015/https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/turkey-welcomes-australias-move-on-martyred-diplomats/1676765|url-status=live}}</ref> $AUS 1 million reward was offered by the Australian government for the capture of the perpetrators of the assassination on the occasion of 39th anniversary of the 1980 assassinations.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Australia: New progress in Turkish officials' martyrdom|url=https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/australia-new-progress-in-turkish-officials-martyrdom/1940271|access-date=6 January 2021|archive-date=7 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107061905/https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/australia-new-progress-in-turkish-officials-martyrdom/1940271|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":4" />

==Linkages==
ASALA had ties to Palestinian liberation groups such as the [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine|Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)]], a Marxist militant group in which ASALA founder Hagop Hagopian was rumored to have been a member in his youth.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gunter|first=Michael M.|date=2007|title=Armenian Terrorism: A Reappraisal|url=https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/JCS/article/view/10546|journal=Journal of Conflict Studies|language=en|volume=27|issue=2|issn=1715-5673|access-date=2019-05-10|archive-date=2021-01-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101013105/https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/JCS/article/view/10546|url-status=live}}</ref> Through his involvement with Palestinian groups, Hagopian earned the nickname "Mujahed," meaning "Warrior."<ref name=":13"/> Hagopian's sympathetic connection with Palestinian liberation/separatist movements bolstered ASALA's goals and helped pave the way for ASALA's eventual training with the [[Palestine Liberation Organization|Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Transnational sources of support for Armenian terrorism|last=Gunter, Michael M.|oclc=36960193}}</ref>

===Possible linkages===
ASALA was rumored to have interacted with other leftist/Marxist militant organizations in Europe and Eurasia, including the [[Kurdistan Workers' Party|Kurdistan Worker's Party]] (PKK) in Kurdistan, the [[Red Brigades|Italian Red Brigades]], and the Spanish Basque terrorist separatist group called
[[ETA (separatist group)|ETA]].<ref name=":02">{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP85T00283R000400030009-2.pdf|title=The Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia: A Continuing International Threat|last=Central Intelligence Agency|date=1984|access-date=April 11, 2019|archive-date=November 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128180933/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP85T00283R000400030009-2.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> In addition to having potential connections to leftist groups, ASALA also had ties to another Armenian organization, the [[Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide]] (JCAG), who, while a right-wing nationalist group that often competed with ASALA, had similar political goals regarding wanting Turkey to acknowledge its role in the Armenian Genocide and wanting the establishment of an Armenian homeland.<ref name=":02" />

==Differences with the Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide==
Because ASALA shared similar political goals with the right-wing militant group the [[Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide|Justice Commandos for the Armenian Genocide]] (also known as the [[Armenian Revolutionary Army]]), the groups are often compared or confused; however, ASALA sets itself apart from JCAG because of its Marxist/leftist ideology. ASALA often aligned itself with the [[Soviet Union]], while JCAG's nationalist goals were more focused on establishing an independent Armenian state.<ref name=":03">{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP85T00283R000400030009-2.pdf|title=The Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia: A Continuing International Threat|last=Central Intelligence Agency|date=1984|access-date=April 11, 2019|archive-date=November 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128180933/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP85T00283R000400030009-2.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Whereas JCAG wanted a free and independent Armenia separate from the Soviet Union, ASALA considered the Soviet Union a "friendly country;" because of this, ASALA was content with remaining a part of the USSR so long as the other parts of the Armenian homeland could be united within the entity of the Armenian S.S.R.<ref name=":13"/>

In addition to having different ideologies, ASALA and JCAG also carried out their attacks in different styles. ASALA was much more prone to using explosives in its attacks rather than firearms as JCAG favored. ASALA used explosives in 146 of 186 incidents/attacks compared to using firearms in only 33 attacks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/Results.aspx?charttype=pie&chart=weapon&casualties_type=&casualties_max=&perpetrator=305|title=GTD Search Results|website=www.start.umd.edu|access-date=2019-05-10|archive-date=2021-01-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101013104/https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/Results.aspx?charttype=pie&chart=weapon&casualties_type=&casualties_max=&perpetrator=305|url-status=live}}</ref> By comparison, JCAG used explosives in 23 of its 47 attacks and used firearms in 26 of its 47 attacks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/Results.aspx?charttype=pie&chart=weapon&casualties_type=&casualties_max=&perpetrator=3292|title=GTD Search Results|website=www.start.umd.edu|access-date=2019-05-10|archive-date=2021-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205165353/https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/Results.aspx?charttype=pie&chart=weapon&casualties_type=&casualties_max=&perpetrator=3292|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Dissolution==
[[File:ASALA memorial in Yerablur.jpg|thumb|The ASALA memorial in the military cemetery of [[Yerablur]], [[Yerevan]]]]
With the [[1982 Lebanon War|Israeli invasion of Lebanon]] in 1982 the group lost much of its organization and support.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}} Previously 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.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}} One of the group's last attacks, 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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.tkb.org/Incident.jsp?incID=6723 |title=ASALA attacked Diplomatic target|date=1981-12-19|location=Hungary|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070827173744/http://www.tkb.org/Incident.jsp?incID=6723|archive-date=2007-08-27|work=[[MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base]]}}</ref>

ASALA's founder [[Hagop Hagopian (guerilla)|Hagop Hagopian]] was assassinated on a sidewalk in an affluent neighborhood in [[Athens]], Greece on April 28, 1988. He was shot several times while he was walking with two women at 4:30 in the morning.<ref>Melkonian, Markar. ''My Brother's Road: An American's Fateful Journey to Armenia''. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005 pg. 187.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://apnews.com/e2d5254813247e3cc55ad77b542b392b|title=Gunmen Kill Man in Athens Identified as Armenian Terrorist Chief|date=28 April 1988|work=Associated Press News Archive|publisher=The Associated Press|access-date=15 September 2012|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304104010/http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1988/Gunmen-Kill-Man-in-Athens-Identified-as-Armenian-Terrorist-Chief/id-e2d5254813247e3cc55ad77b542b392b|url-status=live}}</ref> Veteran member Hagop Tarakchian died of [[cancer]] in 1980. Assassinations of former members of ASALA-RM continued in [[Armenia]] into the late 1990s.<ref>Melkonian, Markar. ''My Brother's Road: An American's Fateful Journey to Armenia''. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005, pp. 277–278.</ref>

According to Turkish [[National Intelligence Organization (Turkey)|National Intelligence Organization]] official [[Nuri Gündeş]], ASALA was dissolved after the assassination of Hagopian. According to Turkish sources, another reason is that financial backing was withdrawn by the Armenian diaspora after the [[1983 Orly Airport attack]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://arama.hurriyet.com.tr/arsivnews.aspx?id=-599507 |access-date=2008-12-21 |title=Thanks to Nuri Gündeş |work=[[Turkish Daily News]] |publisher=[[Hürriyet]] |date=2008-12-21 |first=Mehmet Ali |last=Birand |quote=<!-- It was not the right wing militant and mafia boss Çatlı or mafia boss Çakıcı that finished off the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA). They are bragging in vain. -->It was the raid of Paris's Orly Airport in 1983 that finished ASALA off. Feeling ill at ease by the raid, the French and U.S. Armenians who used to support ASALA monetarily stopped the aid and the issue was closed. I know this through French authorities that were involved. The ones that were instrumental in the stopping of the aid were MİT and the Foreign Ministry. Otherwise, ASALA did not yield because it was afraid of the Turkish bullies. They were stopped because they had gone too far with their murders. |archive-date=2013-04-18 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130418164348/http://arama.hurriyet.com.tr/arsivnews.aspx?id=-599507 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Although ASALA attacks all but stopped in the late 1980s as a result of the group's fragmentation and lack of support after the 1983 Orly attack, ASALA is said to have continued in a lesser capacity into the 1990s, even after the group suffered further disorganization after Hagopian's assassination in 1988. In addition to the ASALA-claimed 1991 attack on the Turkish ambassador in Budapest, ASALA members last attack is claimed to have been in Brussels in 1997 (although ASALA hasn't claimed responsibility) where bombers attacking under the name [[Gourgen Yanikian]] bombed the Turkish embassy in Brussels.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/IncidentSummary.aspx?gtdid=199706230005|title=Incident Summary for GTDID: 199706230005|website=www.start.umd.edu|access-date=2019-04-11|archive-date=2021-01-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210101013043/https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/IncidentSummary.aspx?gtdid=199706230005|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Publications==
{{Main|Hayastan (periodical)}}
Since the 1970s the ASALA Information Branch published books, booklets, posters and other promotional materials. ''Hayasdan'' ('Armenia') was the official [[multi-lingual]] organ of ASALA published in 1980–1987 and 1991–1997. The first issue was published in October 1980 and contained 40 pages.<ref>Mamule 1967–1980, by Zhirair Danielyan, Haigazian handes, hador T, 1981</ref> The place of publication and names of contributors are not known. It was published monthly, sometimes with united volumes. The main language was [[Armenian language|Armenian]]. From 1983 to 1987 it had separate issues in [[Arabic]], [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]] and [[Turkish language|Turkish]].<ref>The Armenian Question, encyclopedia, Ed. by acad. K. Khudaverdyan, Yerevan, 1996, p. 209, ''Hayaqsdan'' by A. Sanjian</ref> The journal published editorials, official announcements of ASALA, and articles on political and military issues. ''Hayasdan'' was distributed free of charge in Armenian communities.

The journal's mottos were "The armed struggle and right political line are the way to Armenia" and "Viva the revolutionary solidarity of oppressed people!" It had sister publications including left-wing ''Hayasdan Gaydzer'' ([[London]]) and ''Hayasdan – Hay Baykar'' ([[Paris]]) which used "Hayasdan" in their titles since 1980.<ref>[[Spurk]] journal, No. 12, 1991, p. 32 ''Hayasdan Gaydzer''</ref> Both were published by the Popular Movements which worked towards mobilising support among Armenians for a political movement focused on ASALA.<ref>Armenians in London: The Management of Social Boundaries. by Vered Amit Talai, Vered Amit, Manchester University Press, 1989, p. 36</ref>

==In culture==

* Armenian poet [[Silva Kaputikyan]] wrote a poem "It's raining my sonny" dedicated to the memory of Levon Ekmekjian, an ASALA member, one of two organizers of the [[Esenboğa International Airport attack]] in 1983.<ref>[[Spurk Journal]], #1–12, 2005, [[Beirut]], p. 35.</ref>
* Spanish journalist, assistant director of the ''Pueblo'' newspaper, [[José Antonio Gurriarán]] was accidentally injured during an ASALA ''October 3'' group attack in 1980. Then Gurriarán was interested what the group's purposes were; he found and interviewed ASALA members.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120730032546/http://www.elpais.com/articulo/ultima/GURRIARaN/_JOSe_ANTONIO_/PERIODISTA/Jose/Antonio/Gurriaran/elpepiult/19820404elpepiult_2/Tes/GENTE José Antonio Gurriarán, by El Pais, 4 April 1982]</ref> In 1982 his book, ''La Bomba'' was published, dedicated to the Armenian cause and Armenian militants' struggle.

==See also==
* [[Armenian Revolutionary Army]]
* [[Justice Commandos Against Armenian Genocide]]
* [[List of attacks by ASALA]]

==References==
{{reflist|1=2}}

==External links==
{{commons category-inline}}
* [https://www.start.umd.edu/gtd/search/Results.aspx?perpetrator=305 Terrorist Incidents attributed to the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia in the Global Terrorism Database]

{{Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia}}
{{Defunct Armed Armenian Organizations}}
{{Armenian nationalism}}
{{Kurdish–Turkish conflict}}

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