attack Archives

Istanbul Terror Attack Another Davutoglu False-Flag operation to amend Relation with Israel

March 21, 2016 By administrator

Terrorism is Turkish favorite tools for establishing relation.

A terrorist attack which killed three Israelis forced Turkey and Israel to talk despite severed ties, but will that be enough to create momentum toward reconciliation?

Turkey’s rift with Russia over the Syrian conflict left Israel having to choose between Putin and Erdogan when it comes to forming major regional partnerships.

A Daesh suicide attack in Turkey’s Istanbul, which killed three Israeli tourists and one Iranian, among others, forced the two countries, which do not have formal relations, to talk, at least when it came to mutual offers of condolences. A week before that, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned a terrorist attack in Ankara in a rare statement, as Netanyahu previously refrained from comments on attacks in Turkish cities.

“What we saw from the Turkish officials was the good will [in the aftermath of attack]. It was very clear. We can use this for widening the volume of our relations,” an Israeli diplomatic source told Turkish media.

Whether the tragedy could be enough to improve ties, the mood may be different in Jerusalem, as Israeli political analyst Ben Caspit wrote in his column for Al-Monitor.

“The Turkish tyrant is viewed in Jerusalem as a lost cause. The Israeli-Turkish military alliance will not be renewed so long as Erdogan’s party remains in power, and Jerusalem has no illusions,” Caspit wrote.

When it comes to normalization of ties, there does not appear to be much of a push, however. The two countries’ demands toward each other, from Turkey’s request to lift the blockade of Gaza, to Israel’s demand to boot Hamas from Turkey, outweigh the benefits of fully restored ties.

“Why do we need to pay the price and give in to Turkey’s demands to improve ties, given the country’s current volatile state?” Turkey expert at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University Efrat Aviv said, cited by the Times of Israel.

Turkey’s instability therefore remains a prime concern for Israeli diplomats and policy makers, as Turkey’s descent into terror has made Israeli policy makers doubtful that any long-term compromise could be reached at this point. The terror attacks, as well, could sever existing economic ties, as Israel warns its citizens away from visiting Turkey.

ISIS-linked Turkish militant blamed for Istanbul attack

March 20, 2016 By administrator

Agence France Presse

ISTANBUL: A Turkish militant with links to the ISIS carried out the suicide bombing that killed four foreigners on a major shopping street in Istanbul, Interior Minister Efken Ala said Sunday.

“The attacker has been formally identified. He is linked to the terrorist organisation Daesh (ISIS),” Ala told a press conference.

Ala named the bomber as Mehmet Ozturk from Gaziantep, a southeastern city on Turkey’s border with Syria.

Three Israelis and one Iranian were killed, and 39 people injured, when the bomber blew himself up Saturday on Istiklal Caddesi, a bustling pedestrian street and popular meeting spot in the heart of the city.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Most of those injured in the blast on the pavement, outside a local government building, were also foreigners.

By Sunday morning, 19 people were still being treated in hospital, eight of them in critical condition, the health ministry said.

Ozturk, who was born in 1992, was identified by DNA traces found at the scene, Dogan news agency reported.

He was “not on our wanted list,” Ala said, defending the authorities against accusations of repeated security failings following six major attacks since July that have killed over 200 people.

Another alleged ISIS member, Savas Yildiz, had been initially named by Turkish media as the suspected bomber.

The minister said five people had been arrested on suspicion of links to the attack. Dogan reported that Ozturk’s father and brother were among those held.

Israeli media said the three Israeli victims – Avraham Goldman, 69, Jonathan Shor, 40 and Simha Damari, 60 – were part of a group that was on a gastronomic tour of Turkey. Two of them also had U.S. citizenship.

The bodies of the three Israelis were to be flown home Sunday for burial aboard an Israeli military jet, Israeli military sources said.

Five injured Israelis were repatriated overnight, Israel’s emergency services said.

– Government accused of ‘incompetence’ –

The Istanbul blast came just six days after 35 people were killed in a suicide car bombing in a busy square in the capital Ankara, in an attack claimed by Kurdish rebels.

“Terrorism will not win!” the defiant front page headline of pro-government newspaper Sabah read on Sunday.

The main opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet said the latest strike was proof of the government’s “incompetence” in its handling of the security crisis.

Ankara had borne the brunt of the attacks until now, being hit three times in five months.

ISIS was held responsible for Turkey’s worst ever attack, which killed 103 people at an October rally in Ankara in support of the Kurdish minority – arch-enemies of ISIS across the border in Syria.

The only attack in Istanbul since the summer, also blamed on ISIS, targeted the tourist quarter of Sultanahmet. Twelve German tourists were killed in that blast.

– ‘Terrifying’ new reality –

On Sunday morning, Istiklal Caddesi street and nearby Taksim Square, the nerve center of the European side of Istanbul, were eerily quiet, reflecting Turks’ growing nervousness in the face of the seemingly indiscriminate nature of the terrorist threat.

“You never know here it can happen. It’s terrifying,” said Ismail, a chef from a nearby restaurant.

Flowers, candles and hand-made placards calling for people not to be cowed by terrorism were left at the spot where the bomber struck.

Prime Minister Ahmet promised a determined fight “until all forms of terrorism are eradicated.”

The US and Europe, NATO allies which have been critical recently of Turkey’s slide into authoritarianism under strongman President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, assured the country of their support.

Erdogan has been accused of neglecting the fight against ISIS to wage a relentless offensive against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) since a two-year-old truce between the state and the Kurdish rebels fell apart in July.

A Kurdish rebel group, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), claimed responsibility for the March 13 suicide car bombing in Ankara, saying it was avenging the military’s actions in the battle-scarred towns of the mainly Kurdish southeast.

TAK, which also claimed a February attack targeting troops in Ankara that killed 29 people, has ties to the PKK, which took up arms against the state in pursuit of autonomy for the Kurdish minority in 1984.

The conflict has claimed some 40,000 lives so far.

TURKEY testing its own making Terrorism: Suicide attack in Istanbul: 4 dead, 20 injured (governor)

March 19, 2016 By administrator

arton123429-480x270 A suicide attack Saturday in the heart of Istanbul killed four people, including the bomber, and wounded 20 others, including three seriously, said the governor of the Turkish megapolis, Vasip Sahin, quoted by the media.

The attack occurred on the main pedestrian shopping street Istiklal the largest city in Turkey, attended by tens of thousands of people every day.

Turkey Send 250 Terrorist reinforcement to Raqqa province attacked the Kurdish town of Tell Abyad

February 28, 2016 By administrator

Russian monitors of the ceasefire in Syria have recorded nine violations of the truce over the last 24 hours. They said overall the ceasefire is holding up, but some of the violations were attributed to the rebels.

Pledges to observe the ceasefire have been submitted by 17 “moderate” rebel groups and elders of 35 towns and villages, who said that they would expel anyone not willing to uphold the deal and enlist those willing to do it into local militias, the Russian center for reconciliation said. The US has filed a list of 69 rebel groups who have subscribed to the ceasefire, they said.

Six of the nine violations were noted because the fire came from the regions of suburban Damascus under the control of “moderate” rebel groups listed as observing the ceasefire by the American side, the report said.

In the Raqqa province, a group of some 100 fighters crossed into Syria from Turkey. The group later joined forces with other militants and attacked the Kurdish town of Tell Abyad.

The 250-strong group was supported by artillery fire from the Turkish territory, a fact that Russia said the US should explain. The Kurdish YPG militia fended off the attack, the report said.

In Latakia province, fighters of the Al Nusra Front terrorist group, which is not included into the ceasefire deal, fired mortar shells at a local militia force, which returned fire.

The terrorist positions were in an area under control of a “moderate” rebel group, the monitors said. Multiple casualties were reported in the clash.

A suicide attacker detonated his car bomb on a road about 1km east from Hama city. The car came from an area controlled by “moderate” rebels, the report noted.

The US Strategic Command confirmed that the Syrian ceasefire was generally adhered to.

The rebel High Negotiating Committee (HNC)’s spokesman Salim al-Muslat claimed that Russia and Hezbollah violated the ceasefire at least 15 times, but didn’t provide any details. Russia said it is no longer conducting airstrikes in areas where the hostilities were put on hold.

The ceasefire was brokered by leading world powers, including the US and Russia, and is meant to pave the way to reconciliation between the Syrian government and moderate rebel forces, which would together agree on a peaceful transition in the country. Some of the stronger forces in Syria, including the terrorist groups Islamic State and Nusra Front, rejected the negotiation and are not subject to the ceasefire.

Syria: ARS Medical Clinic, Homes Damaged in Aleppo Attack mostly-Christian populated districts

February 17, 2016 By administrator

The Armenian Relief Society (ARS) medical clinic of Aleppo

ALEPPO — The Armenian Relief Society (ARS) medical clinic of Aleppo suffered substantial damages after an attack by militant opposition groups on Feb. 14, reported the Aleppo-based Armenian news outlet Kantsasar. The attack targeted the mostly-Christian populated districts of Suleymanieh, Nor Kyugh, Telefon Hawaii, and Seyrafi. Kantsasar noted that there were casualties and wounded in this recent attack.

The ARS Central office confirmed the damages to the clinic to the Armenian Weekly. According to our sources, the attack also targeted the Nor Kyugh school area, where two Armenian schools—the Sahagian elementary school and the Djemaran high school—as well as the St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Apostolic Church are located, near the medical center. The schools have not been operational for around two years. The church is still in use, even though a part of it is damaged. The recent attack damaged shops and homes in the area.

In a post on their Facebook page, the ARS Central office appealed for support. “Due to the bombardments today in Aleppo, Syria, the Health Center of the ARS Red Cross of Syria has been destroyed as reported today by the Regional Executive. Please continue your support for the vital needs of our sisters and brothers in Syria through your local ARS chapters or on-line,” read a part of the post.

A day earlier, Kamishli-born Syrian Armenian Viken Vosgerichian (b. 1983), was among those killed in another missile attack. According to reports, Vosgerichian was among the volunteers who stood guard in areas heavily populated by Armenians, in order to ensure their safety. He also participated in the distribution of water to the greater community using special water-transporting vehicles. Several other individuals sustained injuries in the attack, and were transported to nearby hospitals, while many buildings—including homes and stores—as well as several vehicles, suffered extensive damages or were destroyed.

Kantsasar also reported that water has been scarce in the city in recent months, and that electricity has been almost non-existent since Oct. 23, 2015, forcing Aleppo residents to purchase water and a few hours of energy from those who own generators.

The Feb. 13 attack comes less than two weeks after Aleppo’s Armenian-populated Nor Kyugh district was attacked by missiles on Feb. 3, according to a report by Perio News. One of the missiles in that attack hit an area between the St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Apostolic Church and the Sahagian Armenian School of Aleppo, while another landed near an Armenian nursing home. According to the Perio News report, while some people sustained injuries, there were no casualties in that attack.

Just over two weeks before that attack, on the morning of Jan. 17, the Armenian Evangelical Emmanuel Church in Aleppo’s Munshieh district was severely damaged after militant groups launched a missile attack on several Aleppo neighborhoods, including Munshieh, Azizieh, and Saad Jabri. According to Kantsasar, the church was hit a few hours after Sunday Mass.

The ARS of Eastern USA continues to collect donations for Syrian-Armenian relief. To make an online donation, visit http://arseastusa.org/donate, or mail checks to The Armenian Relief Society of Eastern USA, Inc., 80 Bigelow Avenue, Suite 200, Watertown, MA 02472.

The ARS Eastern USA a 501(c)(3) is charitable organization. All donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

France: Charlie Hebdo cover targets fanatics in attacks anniversary issue

January 4, 2016 By administrator

CX4XnGoWsAAaPAI French Satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo is preparing one million copies of a special edition to mark the anniversary of the deadly Islamist attack on its offices with a cover featuring a bearded man with a gun, representing God.

“One year on, the killer is still on the run”, reads the front page splash.

Charlie Hebdo, known for satirical covers lampooning Islam and other religions as well as politicians, lost many of its top editorial staff in the January 7 attacks when Islamist militants opened fire on journalists inside the newsroom.

The attack was claimed by al Qaeda’s branch in the Arabian Peninsula, known as AQAP. It followed a 2011 firebombing of its offices that forced the publication to move premises. Staff at the magazine had been under police protection since it published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in 2006.

A month before the attack, Charlie Hebdo was close to shutting down as sales had dipped below 30,000. Its brand of provocative, no-holds-barred humour appeared to have gone out of fashion.

Cartoonist Laurent Sourisseau, who took over the management of the weekly in the aftermath of the attack, also penned an angry editorial in defence of secularism. It denounces “fanatics brutalised by the Koran” as well as those from other religions who hoped for the death of the magazine for “daring to laugh at the religious”.

The three gunmen were themselves shot dead by security police during three days of violence which ended with a hostage-taking at a Jewish deli in which four hostages were also killed.

Source: France24

Armenian border villages shelled by Azeri troops

December 23, 2015 By administrator

Azerbaijani troops intermittently shelled the Armenian border village of Baghanis on December 22, between 9:30 pm and 11:45 pm, the village chief wrote in a Facebook post.

“Our army’s retaliatory actions disrupted the rival’s fire, with no casualties registered on the Armenian side,” Narek Sahakyan said. “Voskepar-Baghanis section of Yerevan-Tbilisi interstate highway is currently open.”

Azeri forces have also opened fire on the village of Voskevan on December 22, at 9:30 pm and 9:57 pm. The village residents did not panic, Aravot reports.

Azerbaijani armed forces continuously violated the ceasefire on the contact line with Nagorno Karabakh on the night of December 22-23.

According to the Karabakh Defense Ministry, in the reporting period Azerbaijani armed forces have fired 2000 shots from various caliber artillery weapons, 82-mm mortars, AGS-17 grenade launchers, as well as ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft autocannon.

Related links:

Narek Sahakyan’s Facebook Post

Aravot.am: Ադրբեջանական զինուժը կրակել է Ոսկեվանի վրա

Turkey’s pro-Kurdish leader unharmed after bullet hits car

November 22, 2015 By administrator

Nov 22 A gunshot was fired at the car of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish opposition leader Selahattin Demirtas on Sunday evening, a spokesman for his political party said.

The rear window of Demirtas’s bullet-proof car was hit by a bullet as it was driving in the city of Diyarbakir in the largely Kurdish southeast of the country, the spokesman said.

“Death is God’s command,” Demirtas tweeted after the apparent assassination attempt. (Reporting by Ece Toksabay

Mali hotel attack: 80 hostages freed from seized hotel (updated)

November 20, 2015 By administrator

Eighty hostages held by Islamist gunmen have been freed from a luxury hotel in Mali’s capital as government special forces moved floor by floor to clear the building, Reuters reports, citing the country’s state broadcaster and a security source.

Malian special forces have entered the Radisson Blu Hotel in Mali’s capital, Bamako, to end a siege by gunmen who had been holding 170 people hostage.
“The attackers are still inside. We’re hearing gunfire from time to time,” said a witness outside the Radisson Blu hotel.Gunmen have launched an attack on the Radisson Blu Hotel in the centre of Mali’s capital, Bamako, the BBC reports.
The hotel’s owners said that two people had locked in 140 guests and 30 employees, the AFP news agency reports its statement as saying.

Police have surrounded the hotel, which the gunmen entered shooting, and shouting “God is great!” in Arabic, a security source told Reuters.

A BBC reporter says the US-owned hotel is popular with expats working in Mali.

In August, suspected Islamist gunmen killed 13 people, including five UN workers, during a hostage siege at a hotel in the central Malian town of Sevare.

France, the former colonial power in Mali, intervened in the country in January 2013 when al-Qaeda-linked militants threatened to march on Bamako after taking control of the north of the country.

The US embassy in Bamako has tweeted that it “is aware of an ongoing active shooter operation at the Radisson Hotel”.

All US citizens were asked “to shelter in place” and “encouraged to contact their families”.

“It’s all happening on the seventh floor, jihadists are firing in the corridor,” a security source told AFP.

Some reports say about 10 gunmen in total are believed to be involved in the incident.

The Rezidor Hotel Group, which owns the Radisson Blu, said it was aware of “the hostage-taking that is ongoing at the property today”.

The UN force in Mali took over responsibility for security in the country from French and African troops in July 2013, after the main towns in the north had been recaptured from the Islamist militants.

France: Charles Aznavour plans to “show his strength” to terrorists

November 20, 2015 By administrator

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Olivier Pirard/REX Shutterstock (1293103a)
Charles Aznavour
Charles Aznavour, Brussels, Belgium

The men and women of the arts and letters of France have urged everyone to make noise in the places where terrorist acts had occurred on November 13, in Paris.

These men and women—including world-renowned French Armenian singer, songwriter, actor, public activist, and diplomat Charles Aznavour (born Shahnour Vaghinag Aznavourian)—have called on musicians, actors, painters, and all Parisians to “show their strength” to the terrorists, France Info reported.

Even though the details of this forthcoming flash mob are still unknown, it is apparent that over one hundred artist will assemble outside the Bataclan Theatre and the café, where the terrorists had fired shots at—and killed numerous—people.

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