Bashar al-Assad, Syria and the Armenian people

[Mher]

Re: Bashar al-Assad, Syria and the Armenian people

No stream of Syrian migrants to Armenia

March 19, 2012 | 23:56

YEREVAN. – There is not stream of migrants to Armenia from Syria, head of Armenian migration service Gagik Yeghanyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

According to him, despite the tensed situation in Syria members of the Armenian community and the Syrians have not applied to move to Armenia.

“Over the last few days only one or two people applied to Armenia’s Migration Service,” he told.

As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, five Armenians were injured on March 17as a result of a double terrorist attack in Damascus. On March 18 an Armenian woman died in another terrorist attack.

http://news.am/eng/news/97762.html

[Mos]

Re: Bashar al-Assad, Syria and the Armenian people

Our Government needs to be more active in getting our compatriots out of there. Those heartless radicals will kill them.

[Eddo211]

Re: Bashar al-Assad, Syria and the Armenian people

Russian anti-terrorist troops have arrived in Syria.....

[arakeretzig]

Re: Bashar al-Assad, Syria and the Armenian people

Russian anti-terrorist troops have arrived in Syria.....

source is debka so far? not confirmed by moscow.

[Mher]

Re: Bashar al-Assad, Syria and the Armenian people

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/russian-anti-terror-troops-arrive-syria/story?id=15954363#.T2hBcdnuymU

[Federate]

Re: Bashar al-Assad, Syria and the Armenian people

Russian anti-terrorist troops have arrived in Syria.....

source is debka so far? not confirmed by moscow.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/russia...3#.T2hBcdnuymU

Sergei Lavrov denied it today in a meeting with the Lebanese. https://twitter.com/MFA_Russia/statu...09252142374913

[Eddo211]

Re: Bashar al-Assad, Syria and the Armenian people

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday one of its tankers, Iman, had arrived off the Syrian coast for technical reasons and its civilian crew was accompanied by security guards. The ministry said the tanker was carrying fuel and food supplies for the Russian Black Sea and Northern fleets, which are engaged in anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden.

Talk about deliberate misinformation by western media.....the Russian ship just made a pit stop.

[Mher]

Re: Bashar al-Assad, Syria and the Armenian people

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/25/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html?hpt=wo_c1

U.S., Turkish leaders agree on next steps on Syria
By the CNN Wire Staff
updated 1:15 PM EDT, Sun March 25, 2012


(CNN) -- U.S. President Barack Obama discussed providing medical supplies and communications equipment to the Syrian opposition in a meeting with Turkey's prime minister Sunday.

The meeting was aimed at "syncing up" with Turkey -- a former Syrian ally -- before Istanbul hosts the next "Friends of Syria" meeting on April 1, a senior Obama administration official said. A goal of that conference is to exert pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime to end its brutal crackdown on civilians.

Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan expect the upcoming conference to enhance ways to provide "non-lethal" aid to the opponents of the Syrian regime, such as medical supplies and communications equipment, said Ben Rhodes, a U.S. deputy national security adviser.

"We cannot be spectators," Erdogan said Sunday after meeting with Obama in South Korea, where both leaders will be attending a nuclear summit this week.

Erdogan said 17,000 refugees have fled from Syria to Turkey.

Obama said he and Erdogan "are very much in agreement that there should be a process" to transition to a "legitimate government." He also pledged to keep pursuing humanitarian aid as reports of carnage at the hands of the al-Assad regime mount daily.

A key political opposition body in Syria said Sunday that in a post-Assad era, the Syrian state would be based on "equality," regardless of ethnicity, religious beliefs or political affiliation.

In a new charter, the Muslim Brotherhood vowed "to protect all rights, to dispel fears, inspire trust and confidence."

Some analysts have expressed concern about what the Sunni-dominated Muslim Brotherhood might do if al-Assad's Alawite-dominated regime falls.

In its announcement Sunday, the group said it is committed to "democracy, pluralism, equality and human rights," as well as rejecting and fighting terrorism. The group also said every citizen should have equal rights to run for office.

Sunday's announcement comes after a top defector from the Syrian military said armed rebel groups have aligned under the leadership of the Free Syrian Army.

Uniting all efforts will bolster the anti-regime movement and safeguard the nation, Brig. Gen. Mustafa Sheikh said in a video posted on YouTube.

The move addressed a key concern for observers of the Syrian crisis both inside and outside the country -- that armed rebel groups were disjointed and divided.

"In these critical and difficult times that our beloved country is going through, all the honorable men and women in this nation are required to work on uniting all efforts to overthrow this corrupt regime," Sheikh said. "The soldiers and officers of the Free Syrian Army pledged their allegiance to protect the people and the nation."

Meanwhile, the death toll in Syria continued to rise. At least 48 people were killed nationwide during raids and shelling on Sunday, opposition activists said.

At least 14 people were killed when the Syrian military continued pounding various neighborhoods in Homs, looking for rebel Free Syrian Army fighters and defectors, according to the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria.

At least eight people were killed as government security forces carried out raids in the southern city of Nawa. Opposition activists and the state media offered differing accounts of the clashes.

The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said five defected soldiers and three members of al-Assad's security forces were killed in the fighting.

The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said "six of the most dangerous wanted terrorists" were killed in clashes as authorities "stormed a den of terrorists." Two "competent authorities" were also killed, the government news agency said.

Nawa, in Daraa province, is where the popular uprising against al-Assad's rule erupted last March.

More than a dozen civilians were killed elsewhere in areas such as Homs, Aleppo, Hama and Idlib, said the Syrian Network for Human Rights, another opposition group.

The Syrian government routinely blames the vaguely defined "armed terrorist groups" for violence in the country, while most reports from inside Syria indicate the government is slaughtering civilians in an attempt to wipe out dissidents.

CNN cannot independently confirm reports of casualties or attacks in Syria because the government severely restricts access by international journalists.

The United Nations estimates the Syrian conflict has killed more than 8,000 people; opposition activists put the toll at more than 10,000.

On Sunday, United Nations-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan was in Moscow to seek help from Russia -- a longtime ally of al-Assad -- in helping reach a cease-fire in Syria. The former U.N. secretary-general will also visit Beijing, his spokesman said.

Russia's president praised Annan's efforts and pledged to offer assistance, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported.

"Perhaps, it's Syria's last chance to avoid a bloody civil war. We are very hopeful that your work will have a positive result," President Dmitry Medvedev told Annan, according to the news agency.

Russia and China have blocked U.N. Security Council attempts to pass resolutions condemning the al-Assad regime. The two countries say they want the violence to stop, but would not blame the bloodshed squarely on the regime.

[retro]

Re: Bashar al-Assad, Syria and the Armenian people

Liberals challenge Islamist grip on Syrian National Council

Syrian opposition leaders agreed on Wednesday to expand and reorganize the main dissident group receiving international backing in the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad, in a move that could lessen Islamist influence on the organization.

Invited by Turkey and Arab League chair Qatar to form a common front in their year-old uprising against Assad, the opposition met in Istanbul on Tuesday riven by disputes.

Under pressure from Turkey, the Muslim Brotherhood agreed to form a committee of ten to restructure the 350-member Syrian National Council, around 270 of whose members are Islamists, opposition sources said.

On Wednesday they issued a declaration in which they promised to build a democratic state and to seek reconciliation once Assad is removed.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...82R16120120328

[retro]

Re: Bashar al-Assad, Syria and the Armenian people

The 200 kilograms of explosives were placed in a car in the Sulaymaniyeh neighborhood in Aleppo, Syria�s second largest city, near a Latin church and two primary schools. It is in an area heavily populated by Christians, including many Armenians.

The "Syrian Free Army" are Salafi''s who are opposed to pluralism and advocate killing all non-Muslims.

Look who they are in bed with.