We are all a sharp knife on Turkey’s throat, says ASALA fighter
In an interview with Tert.am, Vazgen Sislian, an ASALA fighter who organized the attack on Turkish Embassy to France in 1981, shared his concerns over the Armenian Genocide recognition issue and the possibility of a reparation.
Born in Beiriut’s Burj Hamud district in I915, Sislian began his military career during the Lebanese Civil War. After the foundation of ASALA (Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia), he participated in different operations aimed at protecting the Armenian Cause. After the operation Van (the seizure of the Turkish Embassy in Paris) he was jailed for five years. He moved to Armenia in 1990 to join the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) liberation war.
To what extent are the current Genocide recognition efforts and pursuit for reparation appropriate? To what extent are they likely to bring a final outcome?
Neither the Diaspora nor Armenia has matured to the level to have a say on the Genocide issue. Each insists on their own remarks, with no essential progress being observed. We have to first of all introduce the Genocide recognition issue to our people. I don’t think Armenia is now powerful enough to make Turkey recognize [the tragedy]. But the problem is not about the number of people; that’s a moral issue that has to do with our struggle. We are, unfortunately, still facing a struggle of words. As for the struggle of deeds, that’s something our feedayis (hero warriors) showed, but the people failed to give a full support to their fight. The same was the case with the Artsakh liberation battle; a victory turns into a defeat on today’s political arena. That’s our problem.
Do you think it is now time to use weapons for solving the problem and reaching our goals?
I don’t find a weapon a basic tool, but if we are forced to, we must.
Do you see that necessity today?
No, there is no such necessity now. Why? Whoever sees us today asks where ASALA is. And I say, “I am one of you.”
The world community is very often said to be bargaining about the Genocide issue.
We must first of all look at ourselves before talking of the world community. It was thanks to that weapon that the world community became a supporter of the Armenian Cause in 1975-1980. We did manage to convince the people that what we had done was not terrorism, that it wasn’t something against an individual Turk. What we had done was directed against the [state] machine that denies the Genocide and our historical rights to date. Yes, a Turk will never give us [our historical] lands, but we could at least make claims, we could make the demand possible. Should we gather together 10 historians, each of the 10 will say different things on the issue. We have become an international nation, feeling at home anywhere we go.
How will you comment on President Serzh Sargsyan’s views on the Armenia-Turkey protocols? Do you consider it a success?
I am indisputably against the Armenia-Turkey relations or protocols unless Turkey makes the first step, i.e. recognizes the Armenian Genocide. If it’s all just a business that has to pave a way for them, they could simply agree on a diplomatic collaboration. That’s probably the problem for those who wish it. It is for us to propose conditions, not for the Turks. It isn’t an easy job; were it easy, we wouldn’t have set our soul in it. We are facing a key problem we need to unite around like a single person.
The Genocide centennial is drawing near. What do we have today, and what could we have, that we still lack?
We could have returned our fatherland over these 100 years, but we didn’t. We ought to be ashamed. Many have now turned the 100th anniversary into an event, whereas the Turks are intensively working against it. For me, that’s yet another year that sees our home country not liberated. The Turk was powerful in the 1980’s too, but we found the way to struggle and cause harm. Turkey is still afraid of ASALA’s name, because it knows ASALA is not limited to just a few soldiers. They are not just a couple of crazy people; it is a fight for ideas. And whenever it erupts, it is on [the Turk’s] throat; it may be gripped one day and let lose at times, but it must always remain in that part. That’s what we are for the Turk. We are the knife on their throat, so when the occasion arises, we will really grip [the knife] for our own rights.
Videos
Interview with Francis Malige, EBRD Managing Director
Armenians Commemorating 106th Anniversary of Genocide
Biden Under Pressure to Recognize Armenian Genocide - KTLA 5 News
Governance and Oversight Capacities Account for Our Bank's Robust Management System - Philip Lynch, Independent Board Member at Ameriabank
'Mr. President, It Is Now in Your Power to Right Decades of Denial' - US Congressman Adam Schiff Urges Joe Biden to Recognize Armenian Genocide
Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh in Despair After Trauma of Military Defeat - France 24
Interview with Kakhaber Kiknavelidze, an Independent Member of Ameriabank Board of Directors
Only Terrorists Keep Hostages, Putting Forward Preconditions for Their Release - Edmon Marukyan
Rep Adam Schiff Says Congress Should Recognize Artsakh
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Azerbaijan Uses Prohibited Phosphorus Chemical Munitions - Defense Army Video
Artsakh Defense Army Units Neutralizing Azerbaijani Arms Supplies
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Nagorno-Karabakh's Status Has Been At the Heart of Our Approach - Zohrab Mnatsakanyan
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Artsakh Defense Army Units Destroying Azerbaijani Tank
Zohrab Mnatsakanyan: Ceasefire Does not Mandate Azerbaijan to Kill Civilians and Hit Civilian Settlements
Armenians Protest Outside Turkrish Embassy in Los Angeles
Losses in Azerbaijan's Military Featured in Defense Army Footage
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Turkey openly backs Azerbaijan 'far more aggressively than in the past' - ABC News on Syrian mercenaries fighting in Karabakh
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There is a solid evidence that Azerbaijan has launched a thoroughly planned attack on the NKR
EU calls for Immediate End to Hostilities over Nagorno-Karabakh
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- 14:11 • 09.10.20 Turkey openly backs Azerbaijan 'far more aggressively than in the past' - ABC News on Syrian mercenaries fighting in Karabakh
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