ASALA summary

Learn about ASALA, a terrorist group formed to force Turkey to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide of 1915

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia.

ASALA, acronym for Armenian Secret Army to Liberate Armenia, Marxist-Leninist group formed in 1975 to force the Turkish government to acknowledge the Armenian massacres of 1915 and pay reparations. Its activities, which have included acts of terrorism, have been directed against Turkish government officials and institutions. Its founder, Hagop Hagopian, was killed in 1988; thereafter the group’s activities diminished.

Leninism Summary

Leninism, principles expounded by Vladimir I. Lenin, who was the preeminent figure in the Russian Revolution of 1917. Whether Leninist concepts represented a contribution to or a corruption of Marxist thought has been debated, but their influence on the subsequent development of communism in the

Uncovering the history of the Armenian Genocide

Armenian Genocide Summary

Armenian Genocide, campaign of deportation and mass killing conducted against the Armenian subjects of the Ottoman Empire by the Young Turk government during World War I (1914–18). Armenians charge that the campaign was a deliberate attempt to destroy the Armenian people and, thus, an act of

terrorism Summary

Terrorism, the calculated use of violence to create a general climate of fear in a population and thereby to bring about a particular political objective. Terrorism has been practiced by political organizations with both rightist and leftist objectives, by nationalistic and religious groups, by

communism Summary

Communism, political and economic doctrine that aims to replace private property and a profit-based economy with public ownership and communal control of at least the major means of production (e.g., mines, mills, and factories) and the natural resources of a society. Communism is thus a form of