Witnesses tell about Burger King blast in Yerevan

April 3, 2018 By administrator

YEREVAN. – The witnesses of the explosion in Burger King fast-food restaurant are telling about the incident that injured eight people on Monday evening.

“I just heard the blast and fell on the ground,” the manager of the restaurant says.

Zaruhi Melikyan, manager in Burger King, was injured and hospitalized together with other seven people, five of whom are minors.

“I felt that everything is destroying, later we were evacuated. There were no such incidents in the past. There was no noise. It exploded suddenly,” she told reporters.

Liza Abrahamova, 15, was in a restaurant together with her brother and a friend.

“We made an order, sat down and started eating when the explosion occurred. We realized what happened and went out quickly. An emergency car and rescuers arrived,” she said.

Yaroslav Lyubenko, Liza’s brother, was injured in his leg.

The ministry of emergency situations released the identities of the injured: Rudolph Markosyan, 6, Rubina Markosyan, 8, Zaruhi Melikyan, 19, Erik Ashughyan, 24 – Iran national, Alyona Agapova, 15 – Russia national, Liza Abramova, 15 – Russia national, Yaroslav Lyubenko, 15 – Russia national, Zeyna Husseini, 24, Iran national.

EU leaders blast Turkey for ‘illegal actions’ in Mediterranean

March 23, 2018 By administrator

EU leaders blast Turkey

European leaders on March 22 strongly condemned Turkey’s “illegal actions” toward Greece and Cyprus in a blistering denunciation that could upend an EU-Turkish summit in Bulgaria on March 26, Hurriyet Daily News reports.

The statement by the 28 European Union member states meeting in Brussels comes after Turkey’s arrest of two Greek soldiers, and its promise to prevent the internationally-recognized Greek Cypriot government from exploring for oil and gas.

“The European Council strongly condemns Turkey’s continued illegal actions in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea and underlines its full solidarity with Cyprus and Greece,” the statement said.

The bloc “calls on Turkey to cease these actions and respect the sovereign rights of Cyprus to explore and exploit its natural resources in accordance with EU and international law.

The statement urged Turkey to normalize relations with Cyprus, divided since 1974 when Turkish troops entered and stayed in the northern third of the island in response to a Greek military junta-sponsored coup.

A standoff over exploiting energy resources in the region risks further complicating stalled efforts to reunify Cyprus after UN-backed talks collapsed last year.

In recent weeks Turkish warships blocked an Italian drillship from exploring for gas in the east Mediterranean island’s waters.

The leaders also expressed “grave concern over the continued detention of EU citizens in Turkey, including two Greek soldiers” and called for these issues to be resolved through dialogue with the EU member states.

U.K.: 19 dead, 50 injured after blast at Ariana Grande concert in Manchester,

May 22, 2017 By administrator

Police urge people to avoid the area, say they are treating case as ‘terrorist incident’

Thomson Reuters,

At least 19 people have been killed and another 50 injured after an explosion at the Manchester Arena in northern England, where U.S. pop star Ariana Grande was wrapping up a performance.

Police say they were called around 10:35 p.m. local time following reports of an explosion at the venue, which has a capacity of about 21,000.

They say they are treating it as a “terrorist incident” as they investigate. The explosion took place outside the venue in a public place, according to a statement on the Manchester Arena’s Twitter account.

“A huge bomb-like bang went off — that hugely panicked everyone and we were all trying to flee the arena,” another concert-goer, Majid Khan, told Britain’s Press Association. “It was one bang and essentially everyone from the other side of the arena, where the bang was heard from, suddenly came running toward us as they were trying to exit.”

Added 17-year-old Oliver Jones: “The bang echoed around the foyer of the arena and people started to run.”

Emergency vehicles were on the scene helping the injured and bomb disposal units were later seen outside the venue.

Several witnesses, while speaking to the BBC, reported glass shattering and the whole building shaking from an explosion.

Many described bloodied and injured people, and a panic as concert-goers fled the venue.

Police advised the public to avoid the area around the arena, and the train station near the arena, Victoria Station, was evacuated and all trains cancelled.

People ‘stampeding out’

Jess Kelly, 22, and her friend were at the concert.

“We were about to go down the stairwell into the concession area where it happened and we heard the explosion, everybody turned to the left, screamed and started running,” she told CBC’s Carole MacNeil.

Breaking News: Blast hits Syrian bus convoy near Aleppo, nearly 40 killed

April 15, 2017 By administrator

Nearly 40 people have lost their lives and several others sustained injuries when a powerful bomb explosion struck near several buses carrying people from two villages in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib, as they were waiting to enter the city of Aleppo.

The blast hit Rashidin district on the western outskirts of Aleppo, located some 355 kilometers north of the capital, Damascus, as buses were stopping at a checkpoint on Saturday afternoon. At least 39 people were killed and 48 others injured as a result, Lebanon-based Arabic-language al-Mayadeen television news network reported.

Syrian state TV reported that a bomber blew up an explosive-laden car at the site. The buses were evacuating residents of Kefraya and al- Foua villages under a deal reached between the Damascus government and foreign-sponsored Takfiri militant groups last month.

State-owned Arabic daily Tishreen said the explosion took place as children were collecting being distributed at the stop point.

In late March, the Syrian government and militant groups struck a deal that envisaged the transfer of 16,000 people from Foua and Kefraya in exchange for the evacuation of militants and their families from al-Zabadani and Madaya towns in the southwestern province of Rif Dimashq.

Residents of Foua and Kefraya were agreed to be transferred to the outskirts of Aleppo City, the coastal province of Latakia or Damascus, while the gunmen and their families would leave for Idlib City.

More than 30,000 people are expected to be evacuated under the deal, which began on Wednesday with an exchange of prisoners between militants and government forces.

The Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) is supervising the implementation of the deal, which is described as the biggest population swap of its kind.

The explosion on Aleppo’s outskirts came shortly after a bomb explosion targeted a military camp in Syria’s western coastal province of Latakia, leaving nearly a dozen people dead and several others injured.

Local sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a car rigged with explosives was detonated by remote control in Salma village, which lies northeast of the provincial capital city of Latakia.

No militant group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attack yet, but such assaults bear the hallmarks of those carried out by the Daesh Takfiri terrorists.

Russia, St. Petersburg metro hit by deadly blast

April 3, 2017 By administrator

At least 10 people have been killed and some 50 injured in an explosion on a train in the subway system of the Russian city of St. Petersburg. All stations were closed after the blast.

An explosion in a train carriage on the St. Petersburg subway system on Monday killed at least 10 people and injured some 50 others, Russian authorities said.

The blast was reported to have taken place in a train traveling between the stations of Sennaya Ploshchad and the Institute of Technology. A spokesman for Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism committee (NAK), Andrei Przhezdomsky, said in televised remarks that the blast occurred at 2:40 pm local time (1140 UTC).

St Petersburg metro blast: Timeline

Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed source as saying the explosion was caused by a shrapnel-filled bomb. The blast tore a hole in the side of a carriage.

The NAK later said it had found and deactivated another homemade bomb found at a different St. Petersburg station.

Terrorism ‘being considered’

Following the explosion, there were scenes of confusion, with traffic blocked on the busy thoroughfare of Moskovsky Prospect, while emergency vehicles and a helicopter rushed to assist the victims.

All stations on the subway system were closed following the blast. The Moscow metro also said it was stepping up security in case of an attack there, while the Russian National Anti-Terrorism Committee said security would be tightened at all criticial transport facilities.

President Vladimir Putin, who was visiting the city for talks with his Belarus counterpart, Alexander Lukashenko, expressed his condolences to the families of those killed in the blast, and said all possible causes, including terrorism, were being considered.

“Law enforcement agencies and intelligence services are doingtheir best to establish the cause and give a full picture of what happened,” Putin said at the start of his talks with Lukashenko.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel expressed his condolences following the blast, saying he had learned of the news “with deep sorrow.” He said Germany’s thoughts were “with our friends in Russia, the victims and their families in this dark hour.”

Several enemies

Russia has seen several attacks by separatist Islamist Chechen militants in past years, and the extremist group “Islamic State” (IS) has also threatened to carry out attacks in the country in retaliation for the Russian military operations in Syria. Russia is giving military assistance to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in fighting rebel groups including IS.

There has, however, been no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast.

Double suicide bombings in the Moscow subway in March 2010 killed 40 people and wounded more than 100 others. Those attacks, carried out by two female suicide bombers, were claimed by Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov.

In November 2009, 26 people were killed and some 100 injured in a bombing on the high-speed Moscow-to-St. Petersburg train, with Umarov’s group saying he also ordered that attack.

tj/rc (Reuters, dpa, AP, AFP)

Terrorist State of Turkey: Bomb blast rocks governor’s residence in Mardin, Several people have sustained injuries

November 10, 2016 By administrator

People walk past a damaged car after a blast in the Kurdish-dominated southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir, Nov. 4, 2016. (Photo by Reuters)

Several people have sustained injuries after a bomb explosion rocked the residence of a district governor in the restive province of Mardin in southeast Turkey on Thursday.

The blast took place in the district of Derik after which several ambulances were sent to the scene of the incident.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the explosion, but Turkey’s Ihlas news agency said the blast had been caused by a rocket attack by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants.

Ankara has been engaged in a large-scale campaign against PKK militants in its southern border region in the past few months. The Turkish military has been pounding the group’s positions in northern Iraq as well.

Turkey’s operations began in the wake of a deadly July 2015 bombing in the southern town of Suruc. Over 30 people died in the attack, which the Turkish government blamed on Daesh.

After the bombing, PKK militants who accuse the government of supporting Daesh, launched a series of attacks against Turkish police and security forces, prompting the the army to carry out a massive operation in the country’s southeast.

Turkish PM Davutoglu #8 False Flag operation “Ankara blast”

February 21, 2016 By administrator

Most recently, Syrian Kurds with Russian air support have made significant advances north of Aleppo, changing the power balance in Syria against Turkey. The YPG has also raised the hackles of the Turkish government by capturing the strategic Menagh air base from opposition elements, triggering intense Turkish shelling of the Syrian town of Azaz.

Turkey’s shelling of YPG targets was so effective that the UN Security Council felt obliged to express concern about Turkey’s actions. Also, the US State Department, France and European Union foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini have all called on Turkey to stop.

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu was startlingly quick to blame the YPG. Less than half a day after the blast, Davutoglu announced the alleged assailant’s name as Saleh Najjar, a Syrian Kurd and alleged YPG member who had been in Turkey since July 2014, when he entered as a refugee.

The revelation was somewhat bizarre. Turkey’s security establishment, while unable to prevent the massive terrorist attack, was able to identify the suspect with stunning speed.

The rhetoric Davutoglu used while announcing the identity of the alleged bomber and blaming the YPG without question gave the impression that the Turkish government was trying to use the terrorist attack to legitimize its actions against the PYD/YPG in Syria.

On the morning of the blast, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) again lashed out at the US administration, calling on it to decide who its ally is in this conflict, Turkey or the “terrorist” PYD/YPG.

Immediately after blaming the YPG for the attack, Davutoglu said, “After this, we hope our allies will see the YPG as the extension of the terrorist organization PKK. … Those who see an organization that is the enemy of Turkey as friendly will lose Turkey’s friendship.”

It took less than an hour for PYD leader Salih Muslim to reject Davutoglu’s claims. Muslim told international news agencies that his organization has no member by that name.

“The bomb might have been exploded to provoke military intervention in Syria. The bombing is part of the aggression started by the AKP. The AKP wants to complete its series of aggressions with a military intervention in Syria,” Muslim told Istanbul-based independent news website T24.

The YPG also denied the allegation, issuing a communiqué the same day. The group reiterated that it has never engaged in any military operation in any neighboring country or against anyone except terrorist groups that have attacked it, referring to IS and Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria. The YPG also accused the Turkish authorities of distorting the facts.

Sweden: Blast hits Turkish cultural centre in Stockholm

February 17, 2016 By administrator

An explosion severely damaged part of a building that housed a Turkish cultural association in a Stockholm suburb late on Wednesday but no one was injured, police said.

Police said all the windows of the centre were blown out and that technicians were on site to investigate the cause. The centre was located in the basement of a building in Fittja, in southwest Stockholm.

“No one was inside. No one was injured. It had been locked since earlier in the evening,” a police spokesman said.

No one has been arrested and there are currently no suspects, he added.

Earlier on Wednesday, 28 people were killed and dozens wounded in Turkey’s capital Ankara when a car laden with explosives detonated next to military buses near the armed forces’ headquarters, parliament and other government buildings.

Turkey: HDP co-chair blasts EU, US for relations with Turkish gov’t

December 8, 2015 By administrator

The co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP)
AA photo

Rifat Başaran – ANKARA

The co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) has chastised both the European Union and the U.S. administration for their approach to the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) style of governance, accusing the EU of covering up the Turkish government’s crimes and U.S. President Barack Obama of recognizing President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s de facto change of the country’s regime.

“The EU has marketed its own principles. The EU is now in a position to be questioned about human rights and the Copenhagen Criteria,” HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş told a group of journalists on Dec. 8, referring to developing relations between the EU and Ankara after the EU agreed at a summit on Nov. 29 to a three-billion-euro ($3.2 billion) aid deal to stem the flow of migrants from Turkey, which is hosting over two million Syrian refugees.

In the first days of December, it was revealed in a statement signed by EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker that the EU had provided a commitment to Ankara to launch necessary procedures on five accession chapters currently under veto by Greek Cyprus.

Demirtaş’s remarks came when he was asked whether recent progress in Turkey-EU relations would serve as leverage for addressing the deterioration of human rights and freedoms in Turkey.

“Just to have the refugee problem resolved, the EU has covered up all crimes of the AKP government by turning a blind eye to all violations of human rights. It has made human rights an issue for bargaining in international relations,” he said. “Even if the negotiations are opened, no move such as pressing the AKP should be expected from the EU. The EU is powerless; it can’t even find a remedy for its own problem,” he added.

Demirtaş was in Washington last week to participate in a Middle East Institute (MEI) conference as a keynote speaker. He also held meetings with officials from the U.S. State Department, yet made no bones about his reservations on Obama’s Nov. 9 call to Erdoğan to “congratulate the Turkish people on the Nov. 1 elections.”

“It is a situation which stems from Erdoğan’s dominant and magisterial personality in Turkish politics. What would he tell [Prime Minister Ahmet] Davutoğlu if Obama had called Davutoğlu? Davutoğlu didn’t win the election anyway. The one who won and lost the election is Erdoğan. This way, he [Obama] has accepted Erdoğan’s dominant position and his position of de facto changing the regime. Normally, he should have called the prime minister,” Demirtaş said.

December/09/2015

Turkey: 18 Kurd from one family killed in Ankara blasts

October 14, 2015 By administrator

Hülya Ünal (L) says the identification process is still under way for three of her relatives. (Photo: Cihan)

Eighteen people from the same family lost their lives in the twin explosions that hit Ankara on Saturday, having traveled to the Turkish capital from Siirt province to attend a rally organized by pro-Kurdish and leftist activists, the Hürriyet daily reported on Wednesday.

Two blasts within seconds of each other killed 97 people and wounded over 500 on Saturday morning when pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) activists, leftists, labor unions and other civil society groups had gathered in Ankara for a march to protest the deaths of hundreds of civilians since the resumption of the conflict between Turkish security forces and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the country’s mainly Kurdish Southeast.

Speaking to Hürriyet on Tuesday, Hülya Ünal, a family member of the 18 relatives who died, said that three of them had not yet been officially identified. “I’ve been waiting in front of the [Ankara Council of] Forensic Medicine [ATK] morgue for four days. We have lost 18 people in our family. The identification process is still under way for three of my relatives — Filiz Batur, Bedriye Batur and Hasan Baykara. I have waited for 15 relatives in front of this door [of the morgue] and sent them to their hometown [for burial]. I was planning to show them around Ankara because they had never been here before. However, now I’m sending their bodies off [to their hometown].”