Bashar al-Assad, Syria and the Armenian people

[bell-the-cat]

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

LOL

The message of my post was in bold and large letters, yet you picked the small sub-title.
When does early 2014 start: presumably 1st of January and when does it finish ......

If you don't understand that something being planned in the middle of March 2014 (which is NOT "early 2014") is very different from something being planned "late last year", and you indicate your response to knowledge about the actual date as that of "LOL", then you don't know much about current events in the region. The situations back then, and mid March 2014, are NOT similar.

[bell-the-cat]

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

Turkey is now at war with Syria according to Erdogan. So if you want to go kill some Turks.....


Turkey is at war with Syria, Erdoğan says in post-election speech

https://www.todayszaman.com/news-343511-turkey-is-at-war-with-syria-erdogan-says-in-post-election-speech.html

31 March 2014, Monday /TODAY'S ZAMAN, ANKARA

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has surprised many after his party's victory in the local elections by declaring that Turkey is at war with Syria. Experts, however, say the declaration is problematic in a legal sense.
Onur Öymen, the former deputy chairman of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), told Today's Zaman that Erdoğan's remarks about declaring war on Syria do not comply with either national law or the principles of international law. “Turkey cannot declare war on a country unless an attack happens first. This [declaring war] is not possible without a reason,” said Öymen.

During his “balcony speech,” Erdoğan, surrounded by a former Cabinet minister and family members who have been implicated in alleged corruption, stressed that Syria is in a state of war with Turkey. He also criticized the leaking of a recorded conversation concerning whether Turkey should conduct a military operation in Syria ahead of Sunday's elections, allegedly between Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and certain government officials.

“How can you threaten our national security? Syria is in a state of war with us. They are harassing our planes. They have martyred 74 of our brothers, and the Tomb of Süleyman Şah is our land. An attack on there is an attack on 780,000 square kilometers. Can we remain silent about such a thing? But these traitors wiretapped this meeting and leaked it to the world,” the prime minister said in his speech.

The audio recording, which was uploaded to YouTube on March 26, reveals a top-secret conversation allegedly between Davutoğlu, Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioğlu, National Intelligence Organization (MİT) head Hakan Fidan and Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Yaşar Güler. Today's Zaman could not independently verify the authenticity of the audio nor could it determine when or how it was recorded.

In his remarks, Öymen recalled that in October of last year Parliament approved a government motion to renew a mandate to send troops to Syria in case of a possible attack. “Unfortunately, Erdoğan is using the war argument for his domestic political agenda,” Öymen added.

During the vote on the motion, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) voted in favor of the motion, while the main opposition CHP and pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) voted against.

The one-year motion was first endorsed by Parliament last year by a vote of 320-129 after mortar shells from Syria killed five civilians in the border town of Akçakale. The government then said it had no intention of going to war with Syria, although it did blame Syria for the incident.

The proposal read: “To enable our country's security against all possible threats, to protect Turkey's surplus profits efficiently, in order not to be faced with a situation from which it will be difficult to recover in the future, to help the Turkish Armed Forces [TSK] employ a fast and dynamic policy, I submit Motion No. 2025, dated Oct. 4, 2012, for the approval of Parliament for the right to allow the TSK to be sent to foreign countries and the necessary regulations that will enable this, the limit, scope, extent and time of which will be decided by the government, to be prolonged for one more year as of Oct. 4, 2013, according to Article 92 of the Constitution.”

Associate Professor Cenap Çakmak, a lecturer in International Law and Politics at Eskişehir Osmangazi University, pointed out two important aspects of declaring war. Speaking to Today's Zaman, Çakmak said that firstly, according to the norms of international law, the declaration of war is a banned act, referring to United Nations Charter Article 2, which states, “All members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations.”

In the second place, Çakmak maintained that according to Turkish constitutional law, the sole authority that can declare war on another state is Parliament, adding that most of the motions approved by Parliament are to send Turkish troops abroad on missions that are in line with the norms of international law. “In this regard, Erdoğan's remarks do not have any legal validity,” Çakmak added.

Prior to the local elections, Erdoğan confirmed the occurrence of the security meeting at a public rally in the city of Diyarbakır, saying that the wiretapping of his foreign minister's office was "immoral,” “cowardice,” “dishonest” and “mean."

The conversation in the audio recording focuses on whether the Turkish military should enter Syria to protect the tomb of Süleyman Şah, the grandfather of Sultan Osman I, founder of the Ottoman dynasty.

The tomb used to be located at Jaber Castle, a historic castle within Syria's borders, which is a highly sensitive location protected by a contingent of the Turkish army. It was later moved to another location after the castle was flooded due to dam construction.

According to the Treaty of Ankara, which was signed on Oct. 20, 1921 between the colonial power France and the Turkish Parliament, the compound housing the tomb of Süleyman Şah is considered Turkish territory.

The Foreign Ministry issued a statement regarding the audio recording, saying that the recording of this highly sensitive meeting attended by people responsible for the security of Turkey had been tampered with.

It said the senior officials had met to make a contingency plan in the case of an attack on the tomb of Süleyman Şah, and it reaffirmed Turkey's determination to defend the tomb.

The statement also said that eavesdropping on conversations in the foreign minister's office is an attack on Turkey's national security, an act of espionage and a serious crime.

[HermanGerman]

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

Some questionable online news portals claim that Qaeda/Islamists have killed 80 Armenians on 21th of March, right after they took Kasab.
To be frank, I dont trust them at all. Asbaraz's article about this event also mentions the number of 80 dead but their report is based on not specified sources. Has there been any official confirmation about the number of losses regarding the Armenian community?


asbarez article

http://asbarez.com/121007/reports-cite-80-dead-in-kessab-churches-desecrated/

[Federate]

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

Fall of Kassab will be costly for Turkey

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has informed the United Nations that a camp for 2,000 persons is ready at Mardin for Syrian-Armenians who may wish to take refuge in Turkey.

I was delighted. Then a Christian friend called and asked: “April 24 is approaching and it is the Armenians again, just as 1915 will be observed.” I was angry because I couldn’t make the connection. Then came a statement by our Foreign Ministry: “All claims that Turkey supported opposition forces involved in the Kassab clashes by allowing them to use Turkish territory or in any other manner are entirely baseless.”

Mehmet Ali Edipoglu, a member of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee was in Hatay for a while to find out what was happening. He sent me an email: “We went to the villages of Gozlekciler and Candir as well as the Teknecik outpost. We were stopped by soldiers. We were upset by their warnings that our lives could be in danger. But in the areas they didn’t let us enter and even in the areas used by the soldiers, Syrian-plated cars were roaming about. According to information from villagers, thousands of fighters coming from Turkey crossed the border at at least five different points to launch the attack on Kassab. We ourselves observed dozens of Syrian- plated cars nonstop transporting terrorists and firing into the Syrian outpost from the military road between Gozlekciler village and our military base at Kayapinar.”

Among the allegations we heard was one that two tanks and about 30 semis had crossed the border, in addition to pickup trucks mounted with DShK heavy machine guns. According to a hard-to-believe report by a reporter for Al-Alam news channel, “The Turkish army shelled the Syrian military base near Kassab. … At Kassab, Jabhat al-Nusra hoisted its own flags on Turkish tanks.” The prevailing conviction is that the Turkish military shot down the Syrian jet to impede Syrian air operations against armed groups that captured Kassab.

Just as we were focusing on Kassab, the tape recording of the meeting between Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Feridun Sinirlioglu, Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Guler and chief of National Intelligence (MIT) Hakan Fidan surfaced. If the recording was authentic, they were talking about measures to be taken for the Tomb of Suleiman Shah threatened by the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), Syria scenarios, weapons and ammunition problems of groups fighting in Syria, ammunition sent to the area earlier and results achieved. Their discussions showed how deep Turkey has sunk in Syria. They were scary, beyond logic. How then can I be surprised by the claims about Kassab?

At a time when opposition groups defeated at the Qalamoun battles were withdrawing to the north and foreign fighters were beginning to go back to their countries, their success in Kassab was a gain that reinvigorated Jabhat al-Nusra and its ally, the Islamic Front. At least, they were able to stand on the shores of the Mediterranean they dreamed of and posed for photos. For three years, they couldn’t cut through the Mediterranean front Latakia to Tartous, because it couldn’t be done without the logistical and military support of Turkey. The daily As-Safir, published in Beirut, wrote about the role of foreign intelligence services in the Kassab offensive: "Especially Turkish intelligence played a key role in preparations and planning of the attack, and supported its implementation.” Ibrahim Idlibi, the leader of the Lighting Brigade that took part in the offensive, proudly explained how they got anti-aircraft weapons and rockets from Turkey.

We don’t know how true these reports are. But when the critical actor is Turkey and the target is an Armenian town, then Kassab affairs assume different proportions. Although opposition militants said they protected the church in Kassab, Egyptian Abu Kathede in his Facebook message sent out a photograph of the church saying, "We took down the crosses. Our brothers will turn the church to a mosque.” Of course, the entire Armenian diaspora is talking about this.

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) said Armenians had been once again forced to flee and asked Congress and the White House to put pressure on Turkey. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said Turkish soldiers in 1909 and 1915 had tried to deport Armenians from Kassab and history was repeating itself.

Kassab is one rare location where Armenians live as a community. Like the Vakif village of Hatay, it is a symbol. They don’t find Turkey’s welcoming them to be convincing. To be honest, Turkey doesn’t want the Armenians to come and the Armenians don’t trust Turkey. We are at a critical juncture. The country that will pay the bill for a possible disaster in Kassab is known. As April 24 approaches, Turkey will be confronted with this issue at every possible opportunity.

These miscalculated, ill-judged moves in the end may bring Turkey to The Hague. With tape recordings or without, someone must answer the question posed by Armenian journalist Rober Koptas: "What changed? Until yesterday, it was Turkey blocking any attack against Kassab. But now, to say the least, it has turned a blind eye to Islamist groups.”

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/2014/03/fall-kassab-syria-costly-turkey.html#ixzz2xZpDB9V1

[Federate]

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

Some questionable online news portals claim that Qaeda/Islamists have killed 80 Armenians on 21th of March, right after they took Kasab.
To be frank, I dont trust them at all. Asbaraz's article about this event also mentions the number of 80 dead but their report is based on not specified sources. Has there been any official confirmation about the number of losses regarding the Armenian community?


asbarez article
http://asbarez.com/121007/reports-ci...es-desecrated/

No Armenian deaths, the 80 dead refers to rebels and soldiers on the first day or two of fighting.

[londontsi]

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

[londontsi]

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

No Armenian deaths, the 80 dead refers to rebels and soldiers on the first day or two of fighting.

Is there any confirmation of hostages taken to Turkey according to some reports.

.

[Federate]

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

Is there any confirmation of hostages taken to Turkey according to some reports.

.

Still no confirmation so I doubt its veracity. Wouldn't rule it out completely though since rebels have a history of mass civilian kidnappings of minorities.

[ninetoyadome]

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

3 of 22 Armenians kidnapped from Kessab and taken to Turkey to be freed today

Of 22 Armenians kidnapped from Kessab and taken to Turkey, three will be freed today, deputy chairman of the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party (SDHP) Armenia office Vazgen Mesropyan told reporters. Another 11 Armenians are unaccounted for, he added.

Mr Mesropyan noted that those who remained in Kessab are mainly elderly people who said they will stay and die in their land. Those to be released are a married couple and an old man nicknamed Stalin who previously worked as a teacher.

In his words, no one has been killed in Kessab. According to information received from members of the armed bands who attacked Kessab, there are two injured people there. Mesropyan stressed that the horrible photos posted online have nothing to do with Armenians and they are posted for intimidating people.

Speaking about the condition of the Armenian church, Mesropyan said, “The terrorists have occupied the church. They have removed all crosses. But this will not last long.”

http://www.panorama.am/en/current_topics/2014/03/31/v-mesropyan

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 of 22 Armenians kidnapped from Kessab freed

Of 22 Armenians kidnapped from Kessab and taken to Turkey, three have been released, deputy chairman of the Social Democrat Hunchakian Party (SDHP) Armenia office Vazgen Mesropyan told Panorama.am.

“They are now in Latakia,” he added.

Mr Mesropyan told a news conference earlier today that no one has been killed in Kessab. According to information received from members of the armed bands who attacked Kessab, there are two injured people there.

http://www.panorama.am/en/popular/2014/03/31/vazgen-mesropyan/

[Federate]

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

Վերջին տեղեկությունները Լաթաքիայից

31/03/2014

Karabakh-life.am-ը , քիչ առաջ , զրուցել է Լաթաքիայում՝ շտապ օգնության և վերականգնման Քեսաբի գործադիր մարմնի անդամ Կարո Մանճիկյանի հետ:

-Ինչ տեղեկություններ կան այս պահի դրությամբ Քեսաբից

- ՈՒղիղ կապ չունենք Քեսաբի հետ, որովհետև չի գործում հաղորդակցման ոչ մի միջոց: Բայց տեղյակ ենք, որ մեր տները թալանված են, թուրքերը բեռնատար մեքենաներով են կրում քեսաբահայերի ունեցվածը և արդեն վաճառքի են հանել Թուրքիայի սահմանակից բնակավայրերի շուկաներում: Իսկ ահաբեկիչների առաջխաղացումը կասեցված է սիրիական բանակի կողմից:

-Զոհեր եղե՞լ են

-Ոչ: Քեսաբից տեղահանվել է շուրջ 800 ընըանիք, որից 600-ը հայերի ընտանքիներ են : Առաջին մի քանի օրը ապաստանեցին ԼԱթաքիայի հայկական եկեղեցում: Այժմ տեղավորվել են տեղի հայերի , հեռու –մոտիկ բարեկամների տներում: Եկեղեցում ապաստանածների թիվը կամաց-կամաց նվազեցավ: Նրանց օգնութոյւն են ցուցաբերում թե պետական մակարդակով, թե անհատ բարերարներ՝ այն ամենով, ինչ գաղթականին անհրաժեշտ է:

Մեծ օգնություն է ցուցաբերել Կիլիկիո կաթողիկոսությունը ի դեմս Արամ Ա կաթողիկոսի: Օգնել է նաև Լիբանանի ՀԲԸՄ, Ամերիկայի, Կանադայի, Ֆրանսիայի և այլ երկրներկի հայ համայքները:

Այս պահի դրությամբ, մենք միայն տեղեկություն չունենք այն հայերի մասին, ովքեր չլքեցին Քեսաբը: Նրանք քիչ թիվ են կազմում, բայց, միևնույն է անհանգստացած ենք, որովհետև , չունենք ոչ մի տեղեկություն՝ գերեվարել են, սպանվել են, թե ողջ-առողջ են:

-Նրանք մնացել են պայքարելո՞ւ:

-Ոչ , նրանք , հիմնականում, տարեց կին ու տղամարդիկ են, որ չցանկացան լքել իրենց օջախները:

-Իսկ տեղահանվածների մոտ ի՞նչ տրամադրութուններ են: Արդյոք, ահաբեկչական այս գործողություները նրանց մոտ վախ կամ ընկճվածություն չեն առաջացրել:

-Իհարկե, լարվածություն կա, բայց վախ ՝ ոչ: Մենք գիտենք, որ երբ էլ հետ գնանք, մենք պետք է սկսենք զրոյից: Բայց մենք միայն հետ գնա;ու մասին ենք մտածում: Քեսաբն ու շրջակա գյուղերը , մեր պատմական հողերն են: Նույնիսկ ամենփոքրին, որ հարցնում ենք ՝ ուր կուզես գնալ՝ օրինակ՝ Լիբանան թե Քեսաբ, պատասխանը մեկն է ՝ Քեսաբ:

Մենք հողին կապված ժողովուրդ ենք: Մենք այստեղ հազարամյակների պատմություն ունենք: Ինչպես կարող ենք թողնել մեր պատմությունը և ու՞ր կարող ենք գնալ: ՀԵռանալ դեպի անորոշությու՞ն: Քեսաբը մեզ համար բարոյական իմաստ ունի: Քեսաբը մեր փոքրիկ Հայաստանն է:

Սակայն, մենք գիտակցում ենք նաև, որ մեր վերադարձը մեծամասմաբ կախված է նաև ռազմական գործողությունների զարգացումից, որի մասին ես ոչինչ չեմ կարող հստակ ասել: Դա բանակի գործն է :

-Հնարավո՞ր է , որ սա նաև պատերազմ է հավատի ու կրոնի հողի վրա:

-Ոչ: Քեսաբը տարբեր հավատի ու դավանանքի մարդկանց համակեցության լավագույն օրինակն է: Ժողովրդի մեջ կրոնական հակադրություններ չկան: Իսկ, ահա, Թուրիքայի համար կրոնը, հավատը միշտ առաջնային գործոն է եղել մարդկանց բնաջնջելու, սպանելու, թալանելու: Թուրիքան իր գազանի դեմքը առաջին անգամը չէ, որ ցույց է տալիս:

-Այնուհանդերձ, երևի թե քննարկվում է Հայաստան տեղափոխվելու միտքը: Վերջ ի վերջո, ամենապահով տեղը հայի համար Հայաստանն է:

-Հայաստան տեղափոխվելու միտքը դեռ չի քննարկվում: Մենք գիտենք, որ Սիրիայից բազմաթիվ հայեր գնացին Հայաստան և հետագայում թողեցին ՝ տարբեր դժվարությունների պատճառով: Հայաստանը մեզ համար այդքան հեշտ դեղատոմս չէ: Մենք, միայն ու միայն, ուզում ենք հետ գնալ , թեկուզ ավերակների վրա նորից տներ կառուցելու վճիռով: Միայն թե, մեր բնակավայրը պատերազմի դաշտի չվերածվի:

Բայց պետք է ասեմ, որ որոշները խոսում են Արցախ տեղափոխվելու մասին: Այո, կա այդպիսի մտադրություն մի խումբ մարդկանց մոտ: Սակայն, դա դեռ վերջնական որոշում չէ :

-Փոխանցեք բոլոր քեսաբահայերին արցախցիների զորակցությունը: Արցախում լավ ենք հասկանում իրավիճակը , որում հայտնվել եք :

-Այո, գիտենք: Մեր հայերնակիցների զորակցությունը կգոտեպնդե և ուժ կտա մեզ: ՄԵնք հասկացանք, որ մենակ չենք մեր դժվարությունների հետ : Իսկ դա օգնում է հաղթահարել այս բավականին դժվար իրավիճակը, որում հայտնվել ենք:

http://www.arfd.info/hy/?p=16345