kills Archives

Kurdish fighters PKK bombing kills 2 Turkish soldiers in Batman province

August 13, 2017 by administrator

At least two Turkish soldiers have been killed in a Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) bomb attack in the country’s southeastern province of Batman.

The Saturday blast took place as the PKK detonated a road bomb as a military convoy was passing through a rural area in the province’s Sason district.

The soldiers succumbed to their wounds after being moved to a local hospital.

Turkish security forces have launched a ground and air operation to hunt down the militants across the region.

A shaky ceasefire between the PKK and the Turkish government collapsed in July 2015. Attacks on Turkish security forces have soared ever since.

Over the past few months, Turkish ground and air forces have been carrying out operations against the PKK positions in the country’s southeastern border region as well as in northern Iraq and neighboring Syria.

Syria-Update: Russian Air Force kills several terrorist leaders in Syria over past week – Defense Ministry

December 4, 2015 by administrator

Several terrorist leaders have been killed in Russian airstrikes in Syria over the past week, the Defense Ministry said.

In Latakia province, a dugout with the leader of a large terror group named Abu Abdu and several other field commanders has been destroyed, General-Major Igor Konashenkov, a Defense Ministry spokesman, told a media briefing on Friday.

“Also during the week, several [terrorist] leaders were eliminated near the village of el-Latamna in Hama province,” he added.

Illegal oil trade by the terrorists was also targeted by the Russian Air Force, with Konashenkov speaking of “12 oil pump stations, eight oil fields and refineries, and over 170 oil tanker trucks” being destroyed over the past seven days.

“Over the past week, between November 26 and December 4, Russian aircraft have performed 431 sorties from the Khmeimim airbase [in Syria’s Latakia province] and carried out 1,458 pinpoint airstrikes against terrorist facilities in the provinces of Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia, Hama, Homs, Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa,” he said.

According to Konashenkov, terrorist command centers, strongholds, militant training camps and arms depots were targeted.

“I want to emphasize that all our bomber and attack planes received cover from Su-30 [fighter jets],” he stressed.

The measure was implemented after the downing of a Russian Su-24 bomber by the Turkish Air Force on November 24.

Konashenkov urged the US-led coalition to share any intelligence it has on the illegal oil trade by Islamic State.

“Most of the drones of the so-called coalition are carrying out surveillance over the areas of [IS] oil production and along the Syrian-Turkish border, which is the main smuggling route for oil,” he said.

“It seems obvious that our colleagues, who perform such large-scale video monitoring in these areas – if they had such a desire – could have shared with the public the information on what’s happening on the Syrian-Turkish border and on the volumes and destination of the oil smuggled by the terrorists,” Konashenkov added.

Earlier this week, the Defense Ministry presented maps and satellite images that it says prove that Turkey is the main destination of smuggled oil, accusing the country’s leadership, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, of financial ties with terrorists.

Konashenkov also spoke of the heavy losses suffered by the terrorists in Syria as a result of Russian airstrikes.

“According to the information confirmed through various channels, the militants are suffering serious losses, are demoralized and are trying to leave their positions,” he said.

The Russian Air Force has been conducting daily airstrikes against Islamic State, al-Nusra Front and other terror groups since September 30 at the request of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

TURKEY claim 390 Kurdish PKK rebels killed in two weeks of raids

August 9, 2015 by administrator

PKK Fighters

About 390 fighters of the Kurdish guerrilla Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) were killed and 400 others injured in two weeks of raids of Turkish airstrike against rebel bases in northern Iraq, said Sunday the Turkish government agency Anatolia.
The agency, which it was not possible to confirm the information, assured that at least four leaders of the movement and approximately 30 women rebels were killed in the (…)

Colorado Senate Kills Pro-Baku Resolution In Presence of Azeri Consul General

January 29, 2015 by administrator

DENVER, Colo.- Only moments before a scheduled vote on Thursday, the Colorado State Senate pulled from consideration a controversial measure (Resolution SJR 15-006) which would have, in the presence of a visiting Azerbaijani diplomat, praised “the strategic partnership between the United States of America and the Republic of Azerbaijan,” reported the Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region (ANCA-WR).

Sources from the State Capitol report the co-sponsor of the resolution, Senator Larry Crowder, agreed to withdraw the resolution from Thursday’s vote schedule. The resolution has been rescheduled for a vote on May 15, 2015; the Legislature however adjourns on May 7, 2015 thus effectively signaling its defeat.

Prior to withdrawing the resolution from a vote, however, Senator Crowder took the floor and, in a move that confused many Colorado citizens, acknowledged the presence of Nasimi Aghayev the Consul General of Azerbaijan, paying tribute to a regime in Azerbaijan that is widely criticized as a leading violator of human rights. Aghayev surely expected to return to his office in Los Angeles boasting of a legislative victory in Colorado. No such opportunity was even afforded.

ANCA WR Community Development Coordinator Simon Maghakyan and Armenians of Colorado President Sona Hedeshian

“The speed and power of our grassroots’ mobilization in Colorado against the continued, albeit unsuccessful, attempts from the Azerbaijani lobby to shamefully introduce legislation that blatantly misrepresents facts is a real testament to our community’s and organization’s resolve to pursue truth and justice for our Cause,” remarked ANCA-WR Executive Director Elen Asatryan. “We are pleased that Colorado joins Hawaii, Mississippi, South Dakota, Tennessee and Wyoming in affirming that it too is not for sale to the oil-rich and corrupt regime of Ilham Aliyev’s Azerbaijan. We were particularly gratified to see Senator Crowder reconsider and ultimately withdraw the resolution after gaining a fuller understanding of the facts about Azerbaijan’s domestic abuses and foreign aggression,” added Asatryan.

In the days leading up to today’s vote, ANCA-WR worked with local community leaders and activists to alert state legislators about the corrupt and authoritarian regime of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and the country’s gross human rights violations, coverage of which has increased in the American press most recently in the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, under the headlines, “A Thuggish Regime Challenges the U.S.” and “The Two Faces of Azerbaijan’s Mr. Aliyev” respectively.

More specifically, on Monday, January 26 ANCA WR Executive Director Elen Asatryan submitted a written statement to the Colorado State Senate voicing strong opposition to SJR15-006, noting the proposed resolution’s blatant misrepresentation of the truth with respect to the Republic of Azerbaijan, U.S.- Azeri relations and the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. On Wednesday January 28th, ANCA-WR also issued an action alert, through which Coloradans were actively writing to and calling State Senator Larry Crowder and key state legislators urging that they VOTE NO on SJR15-006.

Upon learning of the resolution, which includes an incorrect citation that the United States recognizes Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, the President of Armenians of Colorado, Sona Hedeshian, along with many others quickly reached out to their elected officials urging them to reconsider the vote. “We deeply appreciate that our elected officials took the time to hear our concerns. Hopefully, we will not find ourselves in similar situations in the future,” stated Hedeshian.

Dr. Ken Touryan, a resident of Denver, Colorado, thanked Colorado Senator Kevin Lundberg and the Republican leadership for carefully reviewing the inaccuracies of the proposed resolution and deciding to effectively withdraw it.

“I was shocked that our Colorado state legislature would even consider honoring a dictatorship that threatens Armenia on a daily basis. The defeated resolution would have contradicted Colorado’s staunch support for Armenian issues going back to WWI, including a 1921 joint unanimous resolution on assisting the survivors of the Armenian Genocide and providing support for the Armenian Republic,” stated an active member of Armenians of Colorado, Kim Christianian.

“We are grateful for the collective efforts of the ANCA-WR and for the concerned citizens of Colorado who worked with their elected representatives to help prevent the adoption of an erroneous motion in the Colorado State Legislature,” expressed Robert Avetisyan, Representative of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) in the United States. “Unfortunately, legislatures across the U.S, are often misguided by biased and one-sided information about Artsakh, which distorts the historical facts and current realities. It is very important that Armenians and all supporters of truth continue sharing objective information regarding the NKR,” he added.

The Armenian National Committee of America-Western Region is the largest and most influential Armenian American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian American community on a broad range of issues.