What is ETA?

ETA stands for Euskadi Ta Azkatasuna (‘Basque Homeland and Freedom’). It is a separatist organisation calling for complete independence in all seven provinces of the Basque region in both Spain and France. Spain, the European Union and the US all regard the group as a terrorist organisation, and since forming it has been responsible for killing over 800 people. Police, politicians and the general public have all been victims of ETA’s violent campaign—for example, police chief Melit?n Manzanas was murdered in 1968; Spanish Prime Minister Luis Carrero Blanco was assassinated in 1973; and a car bomb set off by ETA killed an American tourist in 1985. ETA’s political wing, Herri Batasuna (‘Unity of the People’), was formed in 1978 in reaction to the new Spanish constitution, and fostered close links with the Irish republican party Sinn F?in.