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Syria, Bomb kills dozens in Azaz on Turkish border

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Bomb kills dozens in Azaz on Turkish border

At least 43 people have been killed in a car bomb blast in the rebel-held Syrian town of Azaz, near the Turkish border, BBC reported.
According to the source, the explosion occurred outside a courthouse in the town, some just 7km (four miles) from the Turkish frontier.

Azaz has recently been targeted by so-called Islamic State (IS). The latest blast comes amid a nationwide ceasefire – brokered by Russia and Turkey. It has been mainly observed, despite some violations.
No group has yet said it carried out the bombing, which according to some reports may have killed as many as 60 people and injured many more, according to the source.

The activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said six rebels were among the dead, with the rest believed to be civilians.

Three French deputies will travel to Aleppo Friday for solidarity with Christmas Armenian

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Paris, January 5, 2017 (AFP) – Three French deputies will travel to Aleppo Friday, “on their own strictly personal initiative” and “in solidarity with the Christians of the East” on the occasion of the Armenian Christmas celebration, They announced in a statement on Thursday.

The deputies LR Thierry Mariani and Nicolas Dhuicq and Jean Lassalle, deputy Pyrénées-Atlantique, former member of the MoDem, will visit to “mark again their solidarity with the Christians of the East by celebrating Christmas with the Armenian Orthodox community “From Aleppo, north of Syria.

They will also meet during this trip “various political leaders” in Aleppo and Damascus, they say in this statement, without further details.

Thierry Mariani, elected from abroad, has already visited Syria several times despite the disapproval of the French authorities. With Nicolas Dhuicq and other French parliamentarians, they spent the Paschal weekend in Damascus last March, “in solidarity with the Christians of the East.” On that occasion, they met with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

During their visit Friday, MEPs want “to see the reality of the situation of the city” and “to learn about the military and humanitarian situation” of the country, they specify.

Thursday, January 5, 2017,
Ara © armenews.com

His Holiness Aram meets with Assad in the Syrian capital

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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met on Wednesday with His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia in the Syrian capital, where the pontiff congratulate Assad and the people of Syria for the liberation of Aleppo by government forces, reported Syria’s Sana news agency.

During the meeting, Assad affirmed that the war that has plagued Syria and the Syrian people for the past six years has failed to achieve one of its most dangerous goals, which was undermining the Syrian people’s unity and harmony.

“[T]his war has made Syrians more steadfast and more determined to remaining committed to their identity and civilization which is based on diversity, and plurality, something what has been a defining attribute of Syrians’ history throughout centuries,” said al-Assad, according to the report.

“His Holiness offered his sincerest hopes and prayers for the [complete] liberation of Syria from terrorism so that peace and security would prevail in Syria as soon as possible,” read a part of the Sana report.

Great House of Cilicia reported Tuesday, the Catholicos will spend Armenian Christmas eve and day, as well as the upcoming weekend in Aleppo, where he will hold Christmas Mass, meet the community and tour community institutions to assess the situation there.

Syria: Turkey’s Erdogan Surrender, Russia’s Putin declares victory accept Ceasefire

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The Syrian government and Turkish Terrorist groups have agreed a nationwide ceasefire from midnight local time (22:00 GMT) on Thursday, followed by peace talks.

The deal was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin and confirmed by the Turkish foreign ministry.

Osama Abu Zaid, a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army (FSA) Turkish supported terrorist, a loose alliance of several moderate rebel factions under the HNC, said the deal also did not include the Kurdish Popular Protection Units (YPG).

The YPG, along with other Kurdish militias, controls a large area of northern Syria up the Turkish border. It is regarded by Turkey as a terrorist organisation and an extension of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

After Turkey turn Syria to No man land and Lost the war want cease-fire with Russia

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Turkey and Russia have agreed on a plan for the warring parties in Syria to declare a nationwide cease-fire, Anadolu Agency reported, citing its confidential source..

The plan is expected to be carried out in all areas where the Assad government and the opposition are fighting, said the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking to the media.

The source detailed that under the plan, Ankara and Moscow will work for the cease-fire to come into force at midnight on Wednesday. It added that terrorist organizations will be excluded from the deal.

The source also said that if the cease-fire succeeds, political negotiations will start in the capital of Kazakhstan under Turkey and Russia’s guidance.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev earlier expressed his “readiness” to provide a platform for talks in Astana to solve the long-standing crisis.

Source Panorama.am

Aleppo liberation victory for Syria, Iran, Russia: President Assad

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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (C) meets with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Jaberi Ansari (L) in Damascus, December 22, 2016.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says the recent recapture of the strategic northwestern city of Aleppo from foreign-backed terrorists is a victory not just for his country, but also for its Russian and Iranian allies.

Assad made the remarks in a meeting with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Jaberi Ansari and his accompanying delegation in Damascus on Thursday.

Aleppo’s liberation “is also a relapse for all the countries that are hostile towards the Syrian people and that have used terrorism as a means to realize their interests,” he said

The Syrian head of state also hailed the battlefield successes as a “basic step on the road to ending terrorism in the whole of Syrian territory and creating the right circumstances for a solution to end the war.”

Jaberi Ansari, for his part, briefed Assad on the ongoing diplomatic efforts aimed at ending terrorism in Syria, particularly the recent trilateral meetings between Iranian, Russian and Turkish officials.

He further noted that the strategic Tehran-Damascus relations have helped reinforce the two countries as well as other regional nations in the face of foreign plots.

The senior Iranian diplomat also highlighted Tehran’s determination to further strengthen relations with Syria and help the Arab nation stand against terrorism.

Syria announced the full liberation of Aleppo on December 15, with Assad praising the victory as “history in the making and worthy of more than the word ‘congratulations’.”

‘Assad’s fate not under discussion’

In another development on Thursday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Moscow was not discussing the future of President Assad in its talks with Iran and Turkey.

After the mid-December liberation of Aleppo, Tehran, Moscow and Ankara held a round of trilateral discussions in Moscow, where the trio agreed to help find a political solution to the crisis in Syria.

In a joint statement issued following the talks, the three sides welcomed concerned efforts in eastern Aleppo, which had been controlled by foreign-backed militants since 2012, allowing for voluntary evacuation of civilians and organized departure of the armed opposition.

Iran and Russia support the Syrian government in the fight against terrorism. Moscow has been providing air cover for the Syrian army’s counterterrorism operations on the ground since September 2015.

Tehran has also been offering advisory assistance to Syrian armed forces.

This is while Ankara, along with its Western and regional allies, is a staunch supporter of the militants operating to topple the Damascus government since March 2011.

Ankara and its partners have long been seeking the ouster of Assad as part of any solution to the conflict in Syria.

Source: http://presstv.com/Detail/2016/12/22/501985/Syria-Aleppo-Bashar-Assad

Syria: 14 Turkish soldiers killed, 33 wounded in 3 suicide car bombs attacks

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3 suicide car bombs cause heaviest single day loss for Turkish army in its Syria operation that started in August

BY AFP,

A total of 14 Turkish soldiers were killed and 33 wounded Wednesday in attacks by Islamic State group jihadists in Syria as the military backs rebels seeking to take the town of Al Bab from the extremists, the army said.

The toll, the heaviest single day loss for the Turkish army in its Syria operation that started in August, came in fighting with jihadists that included three suicide car bomb attacks, the army added in a statement quoted by Turkish media.

The IS-held town of Al Bab, 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the Turkish border, has become the main target of the army’s more than three-month campaign inside Syria in support of pro-Ankara Syrian rebels.

The Amaq news agency, affiliated to IS, said a suicide attack was carried out against the Syrian rebels and Turkish troops west of Al Bab, without giving further details.

After the lightning speed of the earlier campaign that saw the border town of Jarabulus taken on the first day of the offensive, the Turkish army has suffered increasing casualties in the fight for Al Bab.

Buses arrive in eastern Aleppo to resume evacuations: Syrian media

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Buses are entering the eastern neighborhoods in the northwestern Syrian city of Aleppo to resume the evacuation of civilians and armed men from the formerly militant-held areas.

On Sunday, the buses started entering several eastern neighborhoods under the supervision of the Red Crescent and the International Committee of the Red Cross to take out the remaining militants and civilians, Syria’s official SANA news agency reported.

Recently, Russia and Turkey, which supports anti-Syria militants, reached a deal enabling the evacuation of civilians and militants from Aleppo. The agreement ushered in thousands of evacuations.

The process was however halted after militants violated the ceasefire deal and blocked the transfer of civilians from the villages of Kefrya and Foua in Idlib Province.

On Saturday, it was reported that the government and militants were working on a new deal to resume the evacuations from the villages as well as two towns near the Lebanese border.

Evacuation buses reach Foua and Kefraya

Lebanon’s al-Manar television said later on Sunday that buses and Red Crescent vehicles had reached the entrance to the besieged Syrian villages of Foua and Kefraya, which are besieged by foreign-backed militants.

A Syrian government official, who was part of the evacuations negotiating team, said, “It was agreed to resume evacuations from east Aleppo in parallel with the evacuation of (medical) cases from Foua and Kefraya and some cases from Zabadani and Madaya.”

UN to vote on French Aleppo proposal

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council (UNSC) is set to vote on a French-drafted proposal allegedly aimed at facilitating evacuations from Aleppo and aid transfer to the northwestern Syrian city.

The session, scheduled to be held at 11:00 New York time (1600 GMT), is set to vote on the draft resolution to reintroduce a UN regime of monitoring the developments in Aleppo.

According to reports, the document expresses “alarm” at the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo, adding that “tens of thousands of besieged inhabitants” there require aid and evacuation.

The Syrian government managed to recapture the city recently after weeks of lightning advances and blistering attacks against foreign-backed militants, who had been holding its eastern side since 2012.

In a Friday interview with Press TV, Syrian Ambassador to the UN Bashar al-Ja’afari slammed the West’s recent initiatives at the United Nations over the situation in Syria as the “saddest images of diplomatic and political hypocrisy.”

He made the comments a few hours after reports emerged that France was drafting a UNSC resolution on Aleppo.

In late November, when the Syrian government was making great strides against the militants in Aleppo, France, which is a staunch supporter of Takfiri militants in Syria, called for a UNSC meeting to discuss mandating a “ceasefire” in Aleppo.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said at the time, “More than ever before, we need to urgently put in place means to end the hostilities and to allow humanitarian aid to get through unhindered.”

However, Russia, which has been supporting Damascus against the militants with airstrikes since last September, says countries opposing Assad are using the issues of truce and aid delivery to advance their own political agendas.

On November 30, after the French call for a meeting on Syria, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the Aleppo issue was becoming highly politicized as most UN humanitarian aid was going to areas occupied by foreign-backed militants.

Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said only one percent of the UN aid supplies was being directed to the western city of Dayr al-Zawr, where at least 200,000 people, trapped by the Daesh Takfiri terror group, remain in desperate need of help.

She added that most UN aid was being sent to militant-held areas, including areas controlled by the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham terror group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front.

Syria: Almost 18,000 civilians evacuated from areas of Aleppo controlled by militants

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Almost 18,000 civilians, including over 7,500 children, have been evacuated from areas of Aleppo controlled by militants over the last 24 hours, the Russian Center for reconciliation of the warring parties in Syria said on Saturday, according to TASS agency.

“Over the last 24 hours, another 17,971 civilians, including 7,542 children, were evacuated from areas of Aleppo controlled by militants with the help of the Russian Center for reconciliation of the warring parties,” the center said, as quoted by the source.

“Twenty-eight militants laid down their arms and went to the western part of the city. In accordance with the decision made by the Syrian president, they were amnestied,” the center noted.

“Russian servicemen from the International Anti-Mine Center continued humanitarian demining of neighborhoods in eastern Aleppo liberated from militants,” the reconciliation center said. “Over the last 24 hours, they demined the territory of 8 hectares in total. Moreover, they cleared 24 buildings from explosive devices, including one mechanized bakery, two schools, one mosque, one power substation, as well as 4.5 kilometers of roads,” the center added.

 

Source Panorama.am

Syria: Armenian nursing home shelled in Aleppo

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A nursing home belonging to the Armenian community was shelled in Aleppo Friday. According to the Berian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, the terrorists shelled V. Gulbenkian nursing home located in the Armenian-populated district Nor Kyugh.

The building has been damaged, however the elderly people living in it haven’t fortunately been injured. The building is under reconstruction.