Aleppo is again plagued by heavy fighting while the Turkish jihadist forces are trying to gain a foothold in the second city of Syria, torn between forces loyal to the regime of Bashar Al Assad and rebels. Radical Islamists, whom the jihadists Daech have lent a hand, confronted the soldiers of the regime under a barrage of missiles. The Armenian quarter of Aleppo once again paid a heavy price for these particularly fierce fighting Tuesday, February 17.

The inhabitants of the Armenian quarter, which consist in self-defense militias since the beginning of the Syrian civil war, report of casualties and major destruction. The first results show 8 deaths and 36 injuries caused by missile strikes, which also caused extensive damage. The a UN special envoy to Syria Mr. de Mistura said that the forces of Damascus were ready to stop aerial bombardments on Aleppo for six weeks at for a cease-fire. De Mistura said that the Syrian regime’s proposal offered a glimmer of hope, even if the conditions for its implementation are still very vague. The Syrian National Council opposition parties coalition, said that the government would be judged by its actions rather than its promises.

Government forces are not ready to release the pressure, while they have deployed significant resources to try to cut a key supply route for the rebels. A hundred soldiers and rebels were killed in a single day, February 17 at the offensive by the army to take control of several villages north of the city of Aleppo.

Moreover, the Turkish Justice itself has brought evidence of the direct involvement of Turkey in the Syrian civil war, moreover alongside jihadists of the Islamic State (Daech). Turkish media have indeed echoes of the trial of EI activists accused of attacking the Turkish security forces in Nigde in 2014 that at the hearings of the Court, stated that the Turkish state not content to supply arms and ammunition to Syrian rebels but also provided them with support in heavy artillery.

Thus, in particular with the support of the Turkish heavy artillery, jihadist rebels had seized Kessab, a Syrian town near the Turkish-Syrian border and counting a major Armenian community. The jihadists, who were still a marginal force in the theater of Syrian military operations had demonstrated their cruelty, violently expelling Kessab Armenians and destroying their homes and churches.

The complicity of Turkey in the attack, which did not then sparked international outrage it deserved, was suspected. The trial transcript shows that Syrian rebels had held the Turkish military informed of the movements of the Syrian army in Kessab, obtaining their assistance in the capture of the city. Syrian forces loyal to the regime were to regain control of Kessab in 2014, for the return of Armenian inhabitants who fled partly in Lebanon.