Toronto-area Syrian Armenian refugees celebrate first Thanksgiving in new home

October 10, 2016 By administrator

‘I’m so happy to come here because I live in peace. No war, no bombs,’ newly-settled refugee says.

By Shanifa Nasser, CBC News

Less than one year ago, Mher Minassian was in charge of an Armenian cemetery in Syria.

“I saw very bad things… I buried very young people, I buried innocent people.”

It’s a far cry from where he was on Thanksgiving weekend in Toronto.

Minassian was one of nearly 200 Syrian refugees who gathered for their first-ever Thanksgiving in a Toronto-area Armenian church on Sunday. While he had never celebrated the holiday before, for him and many others, starting a new life in Canada was at the top of the list of things to be grateful for.

The Thanksgiving lunch, held at Holy Trinity Armenian Church in Scarborough, was hosted by Armenian Family Support Services, a non-profit organization that has sponsored nearly 300 Armenian-Syrian refugees since November 2015.

“We are thankful first that we are alive because we escaped from the war and second, thanks to the Canadian government. They brought us here,” Minassian told CBC News on Sunday.

It’s a sentiment many there repeated as they celebrated.

‘No war, no bombs’

Zovij Bartiajian has been in Canada for one year and two months.

“I’m so happy to come here because I live in peace. No war, no bombs… A lot of water, a lot of electricity,” Bartiajian said, celebrating her second Thanksgiving.

But while she says she has plenty to be thankful for, her family members back at home in Syria remain at the top of mind.

“Only my body is here. My heart and my brain are back home because our family is still there… They want to come here but it’s so difficult.”

Rita Odjaghian, chair of Armenian Family Support Services, said while the group holds a sponsorship privilege, its work goes far beyond that.

“We got into bringing the refugees but it doesn’t end there. What we do, we try to help them integrate in the society,” adding that the group helps refugees find employment, English classes and even teaches them to identify mental health challenges.

Many of the refugees at the Thanksgiving event have family members back home, Odjaghian said, making events like Sunday’s that much more important to hem.

“There is such a huge isolation in them so they feel being embraced by a larger family.”

The value of that isn’t lost on Bartiajian.

“Thanks for everything,” she said. “Thanks for the peace.”

United Nations Security Council to meet today on Syria

October 7, 2016 By administrator

un-securty-council The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on Friday on Syria after a UN envoy warned that eastern Aleppo may be totally destroyed in the next few months. According to the report by Agence France Presse, Russia requested the meeting to hear from UN envoy Staffan de Mistura, who will brief the council via video conference from Geneva at 1400 GMT.

The source reminds that the Security Council members were discussing a French-drafted UN resolution calling for a ceasefire in Aleppo. After holding talks in Moscow on the proposal, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault will head to Washington on Friday to discuss the measure, which calls for ending all flights over Aleppo.

Breaking News: ‘S-300, S-400 air defenses in place’: Russian MoD warns US-led coalition not to strike Syrian army

October 6, 2016 By administrator

Russia’s Defense Ministry has cautioned the US-led coalition of carrying out airstrikes on Syrian army positions, adding in Syria there are numerous S-300 and S-400 air defense systems up and running.

Russia currently has S-400 and S-300 air-defense systems deployed to protect its troops stationed at the Tartus naval supply base and the Khmeimim airbase. The radius of the weapons reach may be “a surprise” to all unidentified flying objects, Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson General Igor Konashenkov said.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, any airstrike or missile hitting targets in territory controlled by the Syrian government would put Russian personnel in danger.

The defense official said that members of the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria are working “on the ground” delivering aid and communicating with a large number of communities in Syria.

“Therefore, any missile or air strikes on the territory controlled by the Syrian government will create a clear threat to Russian servicemen.”

“Russian air defense system crews are unlikely to have time to determine in a ‘straight line’ the exact flight paths of missiles and then who the warheads belong to. And all the illusions of amateurs about the existence of ‘invisible’ jets will face a disappointing reality,” Konashenkov added.

He also noted that Syria itself has S-200 as well as BUK systems, and their technical capabilities have been updated over the past year.

The Russian Defense Ministry’s statement came in response to what it called “leaks” in the Western media alleging that Washington is considering launching airstrikes against Syrian government forces.

“Of particular concern is information that the initiators of such provocations are representatives of the CIA and the Pentagon, who in September reported to the [US] President on the alleged controllability of ‘opposition’ fighters, but today are lobbying for ‘kinetic’ scenarios in Syria,” he said.

He cautioned Washington to conduct a “thorough calculation of the possible consequences of such plans.”

US-led coalition jets bombed positions of the Syrian government forces on September 17, resulting in the deaths of 83 servicemen. Washington said the airstrike was a mistake, however Damascus claimed the incident was a “blatant aggression.”

The relocation of the S-300 system in order to protect Russian ships and the naval base in Syria was confirmed by Russian defense officials on October 4. Konashenkov assured that the S-300 is a “purely defensive system and poses no threat.” Russia also has S-400 missile defense systems at Khmeimim base that were placed there after Turkey downed a Russian SU-24 jet in November of 2015.

Armenia: 2nd plane with humanitarian aid is sent from Armenia to Syria

October 5, 2016 By administrator

2ed-armenian-eid-to-syria YEREVAN. – Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Armenia Vardan Makaryan, and Russian Ambassador Ivan Volinkin have sent off the second aircraft carrying humanitarian aid to Syria.

Tigran Balayan, spokesperson at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, tweeted about the aforesaid on his Twitter account.

The first plane with humanitarian aid to Syria was sent from Armenia on Monday.

Syria: Two Armenians die in Aleppo shelling

October 5, 2016 By administrator

armenian-die-syria Two Armenians died on Wednesday as a result of shelling in Aleppo.

The terrorists shelled the Armenian-populated Nor Kiugh (New Village, in Armenian) of Aleppo, Syria-based Armenian Kandzasar newspaper reports. The casualties include Gaspar Shatoyan (born in 1986) and Moves Movsisian (born in 1987). Varouzhan Tonapetian has been wounded.

As reported earlier, terrorists have been shelling the densely Armenian-populated Nor Kiugh (New Village, in Armenian) and Villi districts of Aleppo, since early morning of September 30.

First plane carrying Armenian humanitarian aid reaches Syria’s Khmeimim

October 4, 2016 By administrator

armenian-humanitarian-aid The first plane carrying humanitarian aid from Armenia landed at Syria’s Khmeimim air base on Monday, October 3, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Armenian consul was present at the time of landing, the Ministry said.

Earlier, President Serzh Sargsyan ordered that two planes with humanitarian aid be sent to Syria in coming days to support civilians affected from the Syrian conflict.

Aleppo airstrikes continue: Two reported wounded

October 3, 2016 By administrator

Syrian rebel groups continue the armed occupation of Aleppo, conducting airstrikes against the city’s Armenian districts.
Recent rocket attacks have targeted the neighborhoods Nor Kyugh, Suleymaniye and Telefon Haua, says Zarmik Chilaposhyan, the editor of the local Armenian newspaper Gandzasar.

A mother and son identified as Karlo A Fermanyan (19) and Naval Abdo have been wounded in the attacks.

No deaths are reported.

Bloody Friday in Aleppo: 5 Armenians dead

September 30, 2016 By administrator

armenian-kiled Five Armenians died on Friday as a result of intense shelling in the Armenian-populated Villi district of Aleppo. The casualties include Arman and Mireille Hindoyan (brother and sister), Dzila Jabagchourian, Hasmig Giragosian-Perechiglian and Pierre Hariro.

According to Syria-based Armenian Kandzasar newspaper, eleven other Armenians are wounded. They are: Karnig Garabedian, Dzovig Kabikian, Pety Lakhoyan-Hindoyan, Movses Hindoyan, Nazar Zarminian, George Hariro, Hagop Hariro, Arshak Perechiklian, Ara Aramian and Harout Avakian.

As reported earlier, terrorists have been shelling the densely Armenian-populated Nor Kiugh (New Village, in Armenian) and Villi districts of Aleppo, since early Friday morning.

The Syrian army takes control of a rebel district of Aleppo

September 27, 2016 By administrator

syrian-army The Syrian army took control Tuesday of a rebellious neighborhood near the citadel in the center of Aleppo, said a military source.

“The army has taken full control of Farafira district, northwest of Aleppo Citadel, after controlling for several terrorist and engineer units are in the process of clearing the area,” the source added to AFP.

In the phraseology of the regime, the terrorist word applies to all those who took up arms against the authorities, be they rebels or jihadists. Farafira the neighborhood had been taken by the rebels in 2012, when they had conquered half of the former economic capital.

“This operation is part of the military operations that were announced (Thursday) that includes an air component and a component on the ground with use of artillery,” the official added. It follows several days of intense bombing by the air forces of the regime and Russia over the rebel area.

Battle for Aleppo: Turkey’s-Backed Rebels Shut Off Water for 1.5 Million Syrian Civilians

September 25, 2016 By administrator

AFP Photo

The so-called “moderate” rebels turned off the water to 1.5 million civilians living in West Aleppo in retaliation for a Syrian Army airstrike on East Aleppo that allegedly left 250,000 residents without water setting the stage for an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.

The city of Aleppo is “dying” according to United Nations officials after a fierce wave of bombing last night by the Syrian Army in an attempt to break the stalemate in what once was the economic capital of the country but is now left to rubble after years of combat between the Assad government and rebels.

Last night’s airstrikes according to early reporting by the United Nations left 115 dead as hostilities have intensified following the collapse of the ceasefire earlier this week resulting in large part from a US-led coalition airstrike on a Syrian Army base in Deir Ez-Zor that left 62 dead and hundreds injured “paving the way” for a major offensive by Daesh (ISIS) terrorists and over 300 ceasefire violations by the rebels.

The rebels signaled in the day before the ceasefire that they would not comply with the agreement brokered by the United States and Russia with the second largest rebel group Ahrar al-Sham even saying that it was “impossible” for the group to breakaway from al-Nusra Front terrorists (formerly Syria’s al-Qaeda affiliate prior to a rebranding effort) because the two groups had become too entangled fighting under the common banner of the Army of Conquest.

With hopes for peace on hold Syrian airstrikes have escalated which the rebels claim undermined attempts to repair a water pump supplying rebel-held districts in East Aleppo with water allegedly blocking the flow of the vital resource to some 250,000 residents. In an act of reprisal, the rebels switched off the Suleiman al-Halabi pumping station that provides water to 1.5 million Syrian civilians in government controlled West Aleppo raising the possibility of an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in what has already turned into the largest displacement of civilians in human history. Kieran Dwyer, spokesman for the UN Children’s Rights & Emergency Relief Organization (UNICEF) explained that the Bab al-Nairab pumping station supplying rebel-held parts of Aleppo was allegedly damaged on Thursday and subsequent strikes rendered repairs impossible. “Then in retaliation for that attack a nearby pumping station that pumps water to the entire western part of the city – upwards to 1.5 million people – was deliberately switched off,” said Dwyer.

UNICEF fears that families in West Aleppo will be forced to use contaminated liquid carrying waterborne diseases to which children are particularly vulnerable as a result of the intentional act of terroristic sabotage by the rebels in contravention of international humanitarian standards.

“Aleppo is slowly dying, and the world is watching, and the water is being cut off and bombed – it’s just the latest act of inhumanity,” said UNICEF Deputy Director Justin Forsyth.