Following the Lausanne Treaty, the ‘Armenian Issue’ ceased to exist. However, the Armenians of Diaspora, clinging firmly to their allegations, unleashed a series of terrorist attacks on Turkish diplomatic missions abroad as of 1970. All these attacks were masterminded by ASALA for short, the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia.

Under a mask of independence, ASALA carried out ruthless and dastardly attacks. Psychologically and logistically supported by the Hinchaks, ASALA engaged in acts of terror against Turkish diplomats, representation offices and other organizations. These armed assaults rapidly escalated in a short period of time. Armenians who had assured bases for their activities in both Europe and the East, Syria and Lebanon in particular, continued their acts of terror in collaboration with Greeks and Greek Cypriots. As a result of the world wide repercussion of these armed attacks on Turkish diplomats, Armenian terror organizations changed tactics in the 1980′s and began this time to collaborate with the separatist terror organizaion PKK, and later abandoned the scene to this organization.

Having proclaimed the period between April 21 and 28, 1980 as the ‘Red Week’, the PKK started organizing meetings to commemorate April 24 as the so-called ‘Armenian Genocide Day’. 

At a joint press conference held in the Lebanese City of Sidon, the two terror organizations made public a joint declaration. When this initiative aroused reaction, the PKK and ASALA decided to maintain secret ties in their illegal activities. In fact, these two organizations assumed responsibility for the bomb attacks perpetrated on November 9 of the same year on the Turkish Consulate General in Strasbourg and on November 19 th on the Tukish Airlines offices in Rome. Honorary membership of the Association of Armenian Writers was conferred upon separatist terrorist leader Abdullah Ocalan for his ‘contributions to the idea of a Greater Armenia’.

ARMENIA AND TERRORISM

The Armenians and the Turks have enjoyed peace and harmony for ten centuries and the Armenians consisted of high socio-economic status than the Turks. After the defeat of the Ottomans in Ottoman-Russian Wars (1877-1878), first Hagia Stefanos Treaty was signed on 3 rd March 1878 and the treaty of Berlin (13 th July 1878) followed it. Both treaties have clearly changed the attitudes of the Armenian subjects towards the empire and Russia and some other European countries have started to provoke them. The Armenians have organized themselves for an independent Armenian State.

Russia, in line with their national Caucasian policy since the Tsars, was wishing to weaken the ties of Caucasian Azerbaijan with Turkey by establishing a strong Armenian state located between these countries. Keeping this goal in mind, Russia’s Bolshevik leader Lenin has given the authority to the Armenian origin Caucasian Commissar Stepan SALIMYAN to establish an Armenian State, which would be dependent on Russia. Lenin appointed Salimyan on December 18 th , 1917 with the decree of December 30 th , 1917.

On April 27 th , 1920 under the influence of the Bolshevik rule in Azerbaijan and Southern Caucasia, the Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, the autonomous province of Nahcivan and the autonomous Karabag region had been established. Thus, Armenia has come to own a state with its borders outlined. Their nationalistic and occupational sentiments thoroughly aroused and provocated, the Armenians, following the disintegration of the Soviet Union, have declared their independence on August 23rd, 1990 and have commenced attacking their neighbors with the utopic idea of forming a greater Armenia.

In 1915, Armenians who betrayed the Turks during the World War I were relocated. Armenians have claimed that 1,5 million Armenians had been killed during the relocation and have been claiming that this was a genocide. Armenia always had the utopic dream of forming a greater Armenia. Under this pretext Armenians have demanded land, compensation and acceptance of genocide from Turkey. In order to accomplish their aim, they have attacked our representatives and representations abroad and our domestic establishments between the years 1937 and 1986 by organized terrorist ctivities and they requested the fulfillment of their demands.

Lately, Armenians have understood that they would be unable to fulfill their demands with terrorist activities. So they have resorted after 1986 to put pressure on Turkey on the political platform and to give various types of support to the PKK terror organization, whose aim is to ruin our country and thus to fulfill their land demand.

It has been realized that Armenia has given militant and logistic support to the PKK terror organization in settlements close to our country’s borders, has helped to form camp sites within its boundaries and that there are top officers in the PKK terror organization who are Armenian origin.

Armenian Terrorism

The Armenian attacks, targeting our representatives, our missions and establishments abroad, began as an “Individual Armenian Terror” by the assassinations of our Los Angeles Consul General Mehmet BAYDAR and Consul Bahadir DEMİR in the city of Santa Barbara on January 27th, 1973 by old Armenian named Gurgen (Karekin) Yanikan. Since 1975 this has been followed by “Organized Armenian Terror” and it became more violent after demonstrating a rapid increase within a short time span.

Each being different than the other, 110 attacks have taken place in 38 cities of 21 countries. Out of these 110 attacks, 39 were armed, 70 with bombings and was an occupation. In these attacks, 42 diplomatic Turkish citizens and 4 foreigners have lost their lives, 15 Turks and 66 foreign nationals have been wounded. When we analyze the attacks by years, we observe that the Armenian terror has shown a major increase since 1979.

The Armenian terror organizations have finalized their active terror actions after 1986 and have carried the Armenian matter to international platforms. They continue their activities by providing logistical and militant support to the PKK terrorist organization in southeastern Anatolia.