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ARMENIAN TERROR
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 19th 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'.
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