TORONTO Archives

Toronto shooting: Gunman, 2 civilians killed as 15 people ‘struck by gunfire’

July 23, 2018 By administrator

“I know that it could have been worse,” the Canadian city’s police chief said.

Two people were killed after a gunman opened fire while walking down a busy street in Toronto on Sunday night.

Fourteen people plus the shooter were struck in what police described as an “exchange of gunfire.” The culprit was later also confirmed dead.

Toronto Police Chief Mark Saunders said 15 people in total, including the gunman, were “struck by gunfire.”

Saunders said he wouldn’t “get into the minutiae of the investigation,” leaving unclear how many people were shot by the gunman and how many may have been struck by crossfire or ricocheting bullets.

The agency that investigates police-involved shootings said Monday morning the suspect was a 29-year-old man who had fired shots at groups of people several times while walking along Danforth Avenue.

An “exchange of fire” took place after officers located him, officials said. He was subsequently found dead nearby.

“I know that it could have been worse,” Saunders said.

Police said the the shooter was armed with a handgun.

Saunders said the act was not random, but added that investigators were not ruling anything out, including terrorism.

The ages and sexes of most of the victims were not immediately released.

Greektown is centered on Danforth Avenue, one of Toronto’s busiest thoroughfares. It features many restaurants, as well as housing on its side streets.

Stavy Karnouskou told the Toronto Star she was standing with a few friends outside a bar and “heard ‘pop, pop,'” adding: “I turned because I thought it was fireworks … and then the mother of a friend of mine goes, ‘They’re shooting at us — run inside!’”

Another witness, John Tulloch, told the Star he and his brother had just got out of their car when he heard somewhere between 20 and 30 gunshots.

9 dead, 16 injured after van plows into pedestrians in Toronto

April 23, 2018 By administrator

van plows into pedestrians

Nine people have been killed and 16 more are injured after a white van struck a number of pedestrians in Toronto, police said.

The incident on Yonge Street and Finch Avenue East occurred just after 1 pm local time, according to the Toronto Police Department.

Photos and videos from the scene show groups of onlookers gathered behind police cordons as emergency services deal with the aftermath of the incident. One video shows a person bleeding heavily while another shows a body covered with a piece of tarpaulin.

According to local reports, police have detained the driver of the vehicle. The area has been closed off.

Toronto’s Sunnybrook Hospital says it received seven patients after the incident. The hospital said on Twitter that its emergency department is on lockdown as an “added precaution.”

Eyewitness Alex Shaker told CTV News that the van mounted the curb at high speed before travelling southbound.

“He started going down on the sidewalk and crumbling down people one by one,” Shaker said.

Bystanders have posted images to social media showing the aftermath and a number of emergency vehicles tending to The thoroughfares of Yonge Street and Finch Avenue East are located close to a metro station in east-west Toronto. The Toronto Transport Commission has closed off the Yonge Street station due to the police investigation.

Armenian community of Toronto marks First Republic Day

May 29, 2017 By administrator

May 28 Toronto The Armenian community of Toronto held a march on Sunday to mark the 99th anniversary of the First Armenian Republic.

Over 800 participants walked by the streets of Toronto, Inside Toronto reports.

250 young men from Homenetmen, a scouting group formed in 1918 to organize Armenian youth, including orphaned survivors of the Armenian Genocide, led the parade.

According to the organization member Danny Margorian, they are going to turn the march into an annual event.

Cem Özdemir to address Hrant Dink commemorations in Canada

January 12, 2017 By administrator

The co-leader of Germany’s Green Party Cem Özdemir—a German Member of Parliament of Turkish origin and one of the initiators of the Armenian Genocide resolution

The co-leader of Germany’s Green Party Cem Özdemir—a German Member of Parliament of Turkish origin and one of the initiators of the Armenian Genocide resolution that was approved by Germany’s Parliament (Bundestag) on June 2, 2016—will be the keynote speaker at events in Toronto and Montreal, commemorating the 10th anniversary of Turkish-Armenian editor, journalist and columnist Hrant Dink’s assassination, The Armenian Weekly reports.

Several community organizations in Toronto have come together for the past 10 years to remember the former editor-in-chief of the bilingual Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos and to honor his legacy.

Speaking to the Armenian Weekly, chair of the organizing committee Raffi Bedrosyan said that the commemorations are not merely a remembrance, but rather a way for the community to continue Dink’s pursuit for justice. “Remembering Hrant Dink on the anniversary of his assassination is not simply commemorating a slain Armenian journalist. By remembering, we continue his journey toward reconciliation and justice regarding the Armenian Genocide. We also help realize his vision of dialogue between Armenian and Turkish people—a dialogue that is based on truth and a common body of knowledge,” Bedrosyan said.

Many influential figures have attended commemorations in Toronto honoring Dink over the years, including Turkish-German scholar Taner Akçam; lawyer, writer, and human rights activist Fethiye Çetin; and prominent Turkish journalist and writer Hasan Cemal. “These people share Hrant’s vision and break all taboos in Turkey. They stand against the denial of the truth about the Armenian Genocide,” Bedrosyan explained.

Dink was assassinated outside of his Istanbul office on January 19, 2007. He had written and spoken about the Armenian Genocide extensively, and was well known for his efforts for reconciliation between Turks and Armenians, as well as advocating for human and minority rights in Turkey. At the time of his murder, Dink was under prosecution for violating Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code and “denigrating Turkishness.” His assassination sparked huge national protests and outrage both in Turkey and internationally.

This year’s keynote Cem Özdemir was a leading force behind the German Parliament’s June 2016 resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide and acknowledging German responsibility in not preventing the genocide committed by Ottoman Turkey—Germany’s WWI ally. Born in Bad Urach, West Germany, Özdemir is ethnically Turkish—his family emigrated from Turkey to Germany as “guest workers.”

The commemoration events will take place in Montreal on January 21, at the Montreal Armenian Community Center, Homenetmen “Gamk” Hall, and in Toronto on January 22 at the Armenian Community Center of Toronto.

Toronto reporter becomes Canada’s first hijab-clad news anchor

November 26, 2016 By administrator

A Toronto television journalist is believed to be Canada’s first anchor to don a Muslim head scarf

A Toronto television journalist is believed to be Canada’s first anchor to don a Muslim head scarf at one of the city’s major news broadcasters, the Associated Press reports.

Ginella Massa was asked to fill in on the anchor desk for CityNews’ 11 pm broadcast last week and created a buzz after the broadcast ended and she Tweeted, “That’s a wrap! Tonight wasn’t just important for me. I don’t think a woman in hijab has ever anchored a newscast in Canada.”
Massa, 29, said Friday that she became Canada’s first hijab-wearing television news reporter in 2015 while reporting for CTV News in Kitchener, Ontario, a city west of Toronto. She moved back to Toronto, where she grew up, earlier this year to take a reporting job at CityNews.
Massa recognized the personal career strides she had made after stepping out of the anchor desk, but she said it took her editor to point out the larger significance.
“It wasn’t until my editor said, ‘Hey, great job! Was that a first for Canada? A woman in a hijab?’ And I said yes. And so I tweeted about it. As much as I knew it was important, I didn’t expect the reaction that I received. My phone hasn’t stopped buzzing for the last week,” Massa told The Associated Press.
Massa’s achievement comes amid heightened concerns about anti-Muslim sentiment in the U.S. and Europe. During the US presidential election campaign, Donald Trump called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out” what is going on.
“I’ve talked to many women who are journalists in the US. who work behind the scenes and they’ve told me that they face multiple challenges trying to get on air,” said Massa. “They’ve been told because of their hijab, that’s not going to happen. That makes me really sad because they’re being held back by someone else’s idea of what the public can or cannot handle.”
Although the reaction to Massa’s anchor stint and reporting role has been mostly positive in Canada, she said she has received a handful of negative comments and Tweets.
“But this is all the more reason in today’s climate to see positive images of Muslim women,” the journalist said. “They are a symbol of Islam when they wear the hijab and that carries a powerful image. It’s so important to see positive images of us in the media.”

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.”

Toronto Armenian community renovates school in Karabakh

September 15, 2016 By administrator

karabakh-school With the support of its Toronto affiliate, the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund is implementing a number of renovations at the secondary school of Mataghis, a community in Artsakh’s (Nagorno Karabakh) Martakert region.

The three-story campus was built in 2005-2006 with the financial support of Toronto’s Armenian community.

“During a donor visit to the school, our delegation realized that the campus needed a makeover,” said Migirdic Migirdician, chairman of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund’s Toronto affiliate.

“The renovations are nearing completion, and have not disrupted the educational process.”

Within the framework of the project, the school’s roof and restrooms have been repaired and upgraded, doors and windows have been replaced, and granite flooring has been installed throughout the hallways and the auditorium. The exterior of the campus has also been refreshed.

“To our community, these renovations are much more than a routine series of repairs,” said Gegham Aghajanyan, the school’s young principal. “Every time I remember the small building where I went to school, the same building that now houses our kindergarten, I delight in the knowledge that these renovations are a wonderful gift to our students.”

The film “The Promise” by director Terry George, who largely evokes the Armenian genocide at the Toronto Film Festival

September 9, 2016 By administrator

The film “The Promise” by director Terry George, who largely evokes the Armenian genocide at the Toronto Film Festival

The American film “The Promise” by British director Terry George will be presented on September 11th at Toronto International Film Festival Film (Canada). “The Promise” released in theaters in the fall. It tells the story of a young woman covered by an American journalist and a medical student in the last days of the Ottoman Empire in 1922. “The Promise” which was produced with the financial support of the Armenian-American billionaire Kirk Kerkorian -disparu in June 2015-, also discusses extensively the issue of the Armenian genocide. A film with many well-known actors such as Christian Bale, Oscar Isaac, Jean Reno, Angela Sarafyan or James Cromwell. The famous musician Serge Tankian has also contributed to the film “Hollywood”.

Krikor Amirzayan (Գրիգոր Ամիրզայեան)

Canada, Turkish Imam Fethullah Gulen “Interfaith Scam” have now deeply infiltrated Canadian Political society

January 23, 2016 By administrator

Gulen in Toronto Gulen Movement is using the same tactic as their forefather did when they infiltrated Islamic empire and hijack islam used as tools went on conquering three continent, But the movement’s influence extends far beyond Turkey, funding schools, and think tanks and media outlets, from washington to Toronto from Kenya to Kazakhstan. It has attracted millions of followers and billions of dollars.

now that they have fully concurred United State political elite culture they are turning on Canadian political culture, by giving away award under name of falsified interfaith dialogue scam,

Recently they have put up hollywood style award giving show in Toronto, Canada, The award ceremony, which took place at Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York Hotel on Jan. 19, was attended by Lieutenant Governor of Ontario Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Toronto Mayor John Tory, Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie, as well as parliamentarians, academics and representatives of civil society groups.

Hizmet has no formal structure, no visible organisation and no official membership, yet it may have grown into the world’s biggest Muslim network.

There are said to be millions of Hizmet followers in Turkey, where they are believed to hold influential positions in institutions from the police and secret services to the judiciary and the AK Party itself.

A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing: video which surfaced in 1999, in which Mr Gulen seemed to tell his followers that they should deliberately attempt to infiltrate mainstream structures:
“You must move within the arteries of the system, without anyone noticing your existence, until you reach all the power centres.
“You must wait until such time as you have got all the state power, until you have brought to your side all the power of the constitutional institution in Turkey.”
The following year, Mr Gulen faced charges of trying to undermine Turkey’s secular state.
He left for the US, saying the recording had been tampered with. He was later cleared in absentia of all charges.
Several of Hizmet’s most prominent critics have been jailed in Turkey, sparking claims that it has become a sinister controlling force in its native land.
A police chief who wrote a book on Gulen’s influence on the police and judiciary was jailed, as were two Turkish investigative journalists.

Wikileaks shows growing concern among U. S. officials over Fethullah Gulen’s attempts to create a New Islamic World and the “braining washing of students” that takes place at his charter schools within the United States and throughout the Muslim world.

They are flee to Canada from the USA.

Gulen Movement have donated Millions to Clinton campaign see: http://www.slideshare.net/GulenCemaat/gulen-movement-clinton-campagn-donors

Memorial chess tournament in Toronto to mark Armenian Genocide

September 26, 2015 By administrator

One of the top chess masters in Canada will compete in Toronto during a memorial tournament held in honour of the victims of the Armenian genocide, CTV News reports.

The “Chess to Remember,” hosted in Toronto on Sunday, is meant to raise awareness of the death of 1.5 Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman government.

It’s being held as part of the commemoration of the Centenary of the Armenian Genocide, which began on April 24, 1915.

More than 80 participants have registered to take part in the event, including a grand chess master, four international masters and two women international masters. An additional five FIDE (World Chess Federation) masters and seven national masters will be in attendance.

The event will be broadcast live online.

The tournament takes place at the Toronto Armenian Community Centre. A total of $2,500 is up for grabs in prizes, trophies and medals.