Bashar al-Assad, Syria and the Armenian people

[Serjik]

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

Bro dont take him seriously he only reads Radio Liberty and Lragir, what else can you expect from him. His one of them "opozicia" asswipes we have so many of these days. he probably even has gold teeth LOL!

We all see it very clearly Vrej. For you, anything and everything that is bad in Armenia must be originating from Government, President etc. Anything remotely associated with Government, President etc must be in essence evil, corrupt, immoral etc... and hence be demonized at every opportunity. Thanks very much for making your personal agenda on this forum clear and transparent.

[Vrej1915]

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

Տոմսերու գները բավական սուղ են, տուների վարձքն ալ նույնպես. Հալեպում մարտեր են ընթանում
23 Հուլիսի 2012 - 15:03

Սիրիայում իրավիճակը կարծես թե վերջնականապես դուրս է եկել վերահսկողությունից:
HayNews.am-ն արդեն իսկ հայտնել էր, որ ապստամբները սկսել են գրոհել Հալեպ քաղաքը, որտեղ կա բավական մեծ ու կազմակերպված հայկական գաղութ:

«Հիմա տուներու մեջ ենք, դուրս չենք ելներ, որով ամեն տեղ զորք է, թնդանոթներու ձայները միայն կլսվեն»,-HayNews.am-ին փոխանցեց Հակոբ անունով մի հայ երիտասարդ:

«Մենք բոլորս կվախնանք, որ եթե հակառակորդը քաղաք մտնե, հայերու համար բավական ծանր վիճակ մը պիտի ըլլա: Ասոնք ծայրահեղ իսլամ են, մեզ չեն սիրեր»,-նշեց Հակոբն ու դառնությամբ ավելացրեց.

«Հիմա Հայաստան երթալու մասին կմտածենք, բայց օդանավի տոմսերը բավական սուղ են, հօս գըխոսին, որ Երևան տունի գներն ալ բարձրացված են: Չեմ գիտեր, ուր պիտի երթանք»:

Վերջինս հայտնեց, որ հայահոծ շրջաններում դեռ մարտեր չեն ընթանում, սակայն քաղաքն ամբողջովին դատարկ է, փողոցներում կարելի է հանդիպել միայն զինվորների և ռազմական տեխնիկայի:


HayNews.am

[Vrej1915]

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

Syria: Concern mounts for Armenian community as fighting reaches Aleppo


By SIRANUYSH GEVORGYAN

While fighting continues to rage in Syria, its residents, including Syrian-Armenians continue to escape. According to a United Nations survey, about 120,000 people have left Syria, most of them for Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon.

During the recent few days there were heated clashes in capital city Damascus, as well as near Aleppo, where about 45,000 Armenians have lived.

It is reported that Syrian-Armenians are being kidnapped and ransoms are demanded to set them free. Some Armenians have even got warnings by the rebels not to open their shops.

Despite these disturbing reports, on Sunday a video appeared on YouTube where one of the generals of the Syrian free army, reporting about the “liberalization” of Aleppo, which is considered to be the main residence for President of Syria Bashar al-Assad’s supporters, said that the religious and ethnic minorities, including Armenians had no reason to be worried about the activations of military actions there, and that they would defend all of them.

The Syrian-Armenians who came to Armenia, leaving members of their families, relatives or friends in Aleppo, are worried that the Aleppo-Yerevan flights are limited, the prices of tickets have risen, and therefore it becomes difficult to fly to Armenia.

There are two airlines that carry out the Yerevan-Aleppo-Yerevan flight once a week – Armenia’s national air carrier Armavia and Syrian Airlines. Both have sold out all tickets up until September. Last week Armenia’s Diaspora Ministry sent a letter to Armavia, asking to increase the number of flights and lower the ticket prices. Armavia has not officially stated yet whether it will provide additional flights.

[Vrej1915]

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

Security: Syrian-Armenians want easier route to “Homeland”

By GAYANE MKRTCHYAN
ArmeniaNow reporter


Hayazn Union held a picket in front of the Government building on Thursday and passed a letter to the Government, demanding to secure proper repatriation of Syrian-Armenians to the Homeland.

Member of the union Davit Hovsepyan states that there are many Armenian families residing in Syria who are willing to return to Armenia, however, the authorities of Armenia do not take practical measures in this respect.

In the letter submitted to the Government the authors of the initiative present their demands, which according to them, is a list of proposals to develop a stage-by-stage repatriation program.

One of the demands, mentioned in the open letter, is to provide Syrian-Armenians with a one-time free of charge transportation and a transfer of their personal minimum luggage, not allowing private carriers to take advantage of the present situation. Besides, it is demanded to provide Syrian-Armenians with shelters and grant them with favorable terms to get housing, to create favorable conditions for Diaspora Armenians’ children to continue studying at educational institutions, to grant them with favorable terms to get credits, etc.

Participant of the picket, Syrian-Armenian Andranik Vardanian says that they have come to Armenia with their whole family, however they have left all their businesses in Syria. Currently they live in their relative’s house.

“Syrian-Armenians can neither continue their business nor use their handicraft here. The authorities of Armenia would have better supported us morally and provided us with shelters and job, at least temporary, by the time we manage to settle here,” Vardanian says.

Members of Hayazn Union state that many Armenian families not always choose Armenia, preferring to leave for another country and get a more favorable status of a refugee there.

[Vrej1915]

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

Սիրիա հատուկ օդանավեր ուղարկելու «անհրաժեշտություն չկա»

http://www.armenialiberty.org/content/article/24654941.html

Սփյուռքի նախարարության աշխատակազմի ղեկավար, սիրիահայերի հարցերով ձեւավորված հանձնաժողովի նախագահ Ֆիրդուս Զաքարյանի պնդմամբ, այս պահին Սիրիայում իրավիճակն այնպիսին չէ, որ Հայաստանի կառավարությունը հատուկ օդանավեր ուղարկի սիրիահայերին Հայաստանի տեղափոխելու համար:

«Այն մարդիկ, ովքեր կարծում են, որ պիտի ՀՀ կառավարությունը հատուկ ինքնաթիռներ իջեցնի Սիրիա, այնտեղից հայերին տեղափոխի եւ այլն, այսօր դրա ոչ միայն անհրրաժեշտությունը չկա, [այլեւ] դա ավելորդ խուճապ կարող է առաջացնել: Ընդամենը պետք է հասկանալ` այն [սիրիա]հայերը, ովքեր կլինեն Հայաստանում, մեր կառավարությունը, համապատասխան գերատեսչությունները պատրաստ են բոլոր տեսակի աջակցություն ցույց տալու», - «Ազատություն» ռադիոկայանի հետ զրույցում ասաց Զաքարյանը:

Անցած շաբաթ, այդուհանդերձ, Սփյուռքի նախարարությունը նամակով դիմել էր «Արմավիա» ընկերությանը` վերանայելու Երեւան - Հալեպ - Երեւան չվերթի սակագինն ու ավելացնելու չվերթների քանակը:

Զաքարյանի խոսքով` նամակով փորձել են կատարել սիրիահայերի խնդրանքը, քանի որ մինչեւ աշուն ինչպես «Արմավիա»-ի, այնպես էլ «Սիրիական ավիաուղիներ»-ի տոմսերը դեպի Երեւան արդեն սպառված են, եւ բազմաթիվ սիրիահայեր պարզապես չեն կարողանում հասնել Հայաստան:

«Արմավիա»-ն ըստ էության հայտնել է, որ իրենք պատրաստ են աջակցել սիրիահայերին, սակայն Հայաստանի կառավարությունը պետք է իրենց աջակցի չվերթների քանակն ավելացնելու ու սակագները վերանայելու գործում:

Նամակի պաշտոնական պատասխանը Սփյուռքի նախարարությունը դեռ չի ստացել:

Սիրիահայերին աջակցելու նպատակով Սփյուռքի նախարարությունում ստեղծվել է նաեւ աշխատանքային խումբ` տասնյակ համահայկական կառույցների ներգրավմամբ: Խումբը գլխավորում է նախարար Հրանուշ Հակոբյանը:

Համահայկական կազմակերպությունները առաջարկել են իրենց օգնությունը սոցիալական, իրավական աջակցություն ցուցաբերելու, նաեւ կացարաններով ապահովելու գործում:

Խմբի կազմում է նաեւ «Հայաստան» համահայկական հիմնադրամը, որի Հասարակայնության հետ կապերի բաժնի պետ Հասմիկ Գրիգորյանը «Ազատություն» ռադիոկայանի հետ զրույցում փոխանցեց, որ ընթացիկ տարվա իրենց ծրագրերն արդեն պլանավորված են եւ անցած տարի հավաքված գումարներն արդեն ծախսվում են որոշված ուղղություններով, ուստի սիրիահայերի` Հայաստան թռիչքների հարցը լուծելու համար անհրաժեշտ է, որ հիմնադրամի Հոգաբարձուների խորհուրդը հավանություն տա արդեն ընդունված որոշումներում փոփոխություններ կատարելուն:

Հայկական բարեգործական ընդհանուր միության (ՀԲԸՄ) Հայաստանի ներկայացուցիչ Հովհաննես Յորդիկյանը «Ազատություն» ռադիոկայանին հարցին, թե արդյոք ՀԲԸՄ-ն գումարներ կհատկացնի «Արմավիա»-ին` Սիրիայից Հայաստան չվերթների քանակը ավելացնելու համար, պատասխանեց, որ նման հարց դեռ չի քննարկվել:

[Vrej1915]

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

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18977899

[Vrej1915]

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

More Armenians Flee Syria Amid Fighting In Aleppo

http://www.armenialiberty.org/content/article/24656491.html

Naira Bulghadarian
Հրապարակված է՝ 25.07.2012
Ethnic Armenians continued to flee Syria on Wednesday as heavy fighting intensified in Aleppo, the country’s second largest city and economic and cultural center of its 80,000-strong Armenian community.

About 170 of them arrived in Yerevan on board a Syrian Air aircraft early in the morning. The plane flew back to Aleppo shortly afterwards as Syrian government troops reportedly massed around the city partly controlled by rebels.

News reports citing Syrian opposition sources said that the Syrian army pounded rebel
fighters there with artillery and attack helicopters throughout Tuesday. According to Reuters, the rebels battled government forces by the gates of the historic old city.

“When we reached the airport the situation was very chaotic. There was gunfire,” said Tsovinar Khangikian, an Armenian woman from Aleppo who arrived at Yerevan’s Zvartnots airport together with her sister and their children.


Syria -- Syrian rebels man a checkpoint in the northern city of Aleppo, 24Jul2012
“Until now things were fine. There were some problems around [Aleppo] but things were quiet in the city,” she told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) before bursting into tears.

“We have fled shelling,” said Khangikian’s tearful sister. “We have come here to take some rest and then return and carry on with our life.”

Both women said they left their husbands behind to look after their properties in Aleppo.

Speaking on camera, other Aleppo Armenians painted less dramatic pictures of the crisis in Syria. “We are having hard but not catastrophic times,” said one man. “Our army is strong.”

Officials from the Armenian Ministry of Diaspora were for the first time on hand to give the arriving Syrian information booklets and asking them to fill out questionnaires on their personal data and the length and purpose of their stay in Armenia.

About 100 other Syrian nationals, virtually all of them ethnic Armenian, boarded Syrian Air’s return flight to Aleppo despite the apparently worsening situation in and around the city. About half of them were young people who travelled to Armenia two weeks ago to participate in a festival organized by the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), a leading Diaspora charity.

Margarit Avetian, another returning passenger, left Syria early this month to receive Armenian citizenship. “The situation seems to be a bit worse than it was before we came to Armenia,” she told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am).


Armenia - ethnic Armenians arrive in Yerevan from Aleppo, Syria.
Avetian got her Armenian passport after what she described as a bureaucratic hassle in Yerevan. “The bottom line is that I got it. I’m pleased and proud to have a passport,” she said, adding that she and her relatives are increasingly contemplating a permanent move to Armenia.

According to immigration authorities in Yerevan, some 6,000 Syrian Armenians have applied for Armenian citizenship since the start of a popular uprising against President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime in early 2011. Some of them are thought to have already taken refuge in their ancestral homeland. There is no government data on the number of such persons, though.

Hampig Shimshirian, a businessman from Damascus, also arrived at Zvartnots on Wednesday. Shimshirian said he owns a clothing factory and two houses in the Syrian capital and is now planning to stay in Armenia with his family for good. “We always wanted to settle in Armenia and the war has accelerated our move,” he explained.

Harut Kakajian, another businessman, imported Chinese toys to Syria and neighboring Lebanon before settling in Yerevan with his family last week. “Business [in Syria] has come to a halt,” he said. “There are goods but nobody buys them.”

Kakajian acknowledged that doing business and finding other work in Armenia is also challenging. “If there were jobs here there would be more people moving here,” he said.

The Armenian government is being increasingly accused by domestic opposition and other groups of providing little assistance to Syria’s Armenian community and especially its members relocating to Armenia. Government officials reject the criticism.

“Relevant government bodies are prepared to provide all kinds of assistance to those Armenians who come to Armenia,” insisted Firdus Zakarian, head of a Ministry of Diaspora task force that was set up recently to deal with the refugee influx.


Syria -- Members of Jihadist group Hamza Abdualmuttalib train near Aleppo, 19Jul2012
Speaking to RFE/RL’s Armenian service on Tuesday, Zakarian dismissed opposition calls for the government to make contingency plans for evacuating Syrian Armenians en masse. He said such an operation could only spread panic in the community. The situation in Syria still does not warrant an Armenian exodus, the official said.

Still, Zakarian’s ministry did ask the Armavia national airline last week to increase the frequency of its weekly Yerevan-Aleppo flights and lower the price of their tickets. Armavia replied that it is ready to do that if it receives financial support from the government.

Also last week, Diaspora Minister Hranush Hakobian met with representatives of major Diaspora Armenian charities, including the AGBU, to discuss ways of helping the Syrian Armenians. According to Zakarian, they expressed readiness to provide financial and other assistance.

[Vrej1915]

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

"I WOULD LIKE ARMENIANS TO STAY IN SYRIA"

http://www.a1plus.am/en/politics/2012/07/23/hrant-margaryan

06:56 pm | July 23, 2012 | Politics

You do not come across clashes in the streets in Aleppo, but you
still feel tension, says Hrant Margaryan, a senior representative of
the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Dashnaktsutyun Bureau, who has
recently returned from Aleppo.

Mr. Margaryan says several Armenians have died during the ongoing
internal armed conflict in Syria.

"About six people died in Syria: two of them died accidently in an
explosion, others died during the military service," said Mr.
Margaryan.

Hrant Margaryan thinks that Armenia should not intervene in the life
of the local Armenian community which has some 60 000 members. First,
as the Dashnaktsutyun member says, the intervention may create panic
in the community. Second, the conflicting sides may come into conflict
with Armenians and finally, Armenia cannot offer much to the Syrian
Armenians.

"We cannot provide them with jobs, housing and many other important
things," says Mr. Margaryan.

"The Armenia community of Syria, which was formed after the Armenian
Genocide of 1915, has always enjoyed the country's hospitability. I
would like our compatriots living in Syria to stay in the country
and share its fate along with other citizens," said Mr. Margaryan.

As long as they are in Syria, Armenia should help them resist all
challenges and keep aloof from the internal conflict. Anyway, if
Armenians decide to leave Syria, Hrant Margaryan would like them to
settle in Armenia.

[Vrej1915]

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

ALEPPO-ARMENIANS NOT FACING THREATS DESPITE CLASHES

tert.am
24.07.12

The Armenian community of Aleppo is not reportedly facing threats
amid the continuing armed attacks in the city.

The clashes are said to be far from the Armenian districts, though
the smoke and noise are not out of their sight and hearing.

Despite the extremely tense situation in the city, Armenians are in
safer areas.

Clashes were reported yesterday on the way leading to the city's
airport. But the scheduled Yerevan-Aleppo flight was carried out,
though with a little delay.

The Free Syrian Army announced on Monday that it had launched a direct
attack on the capital city, after occupying the surrounding districts.

The Army's colonel, Abdel Jabbar al-Oqaidi, said in a YouTube address
that they are planning to seize Alleppo from Assad.

He also pledged to support the civilian population, including the
Christian Armenians, Assyrians, as well as the Alevis, Shahs and
Druzes.

Representatives of Aleppo's Armenian community told Tert.am on Monday
that the city had become deserted, with only the government forces
marching in the streets in an attempt to find and destroy the armed
rebels' shelters.

[Vrej1915]

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

AN ARMENIAN KIDNAPPED BY SYRIAN REBELS MANAGED TO ESCAPE

ARMENPRESS
24 July, 2012
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, JULY 24, ARMENPRESS: Armenian nature Khachik Sargsyan has
been kidnapped by the rebels in al-Hasakah city, Syria. As Syrian
Armenian community facebook responsible briefed Armenpress, the
opposition side had stopped Sargsyan' s car and abducted him: the
latter on his way to home.

Facebook page responsible informs three hours later of the incident
Khachik Sargsyan fortunately managed to escape when the attackers
were in a quarrel.

As Armenpress reported earlier Free Syrian Army representatives
announced on their intention to capture the city of Aleppo. Colonel
Abdel Jabar Al-Okaydi in his statement posted in You Tube stated,
national and religious minorities might not have concerns pertain
to future actions. '~RFree Syrian Army is going to protect all,
repagradless being Armenian or Assyrian, Kurdish or Druze. In his
words Syrian opposition will also protect Assad racial alevis.

Syrian Armenian Community representative Nazaret Elmajyan informs
the situation in Aleppo in current moment is quiet and is still under
control by Assad faithful forces. '~R The situation is tense mostly in
three districts Salah El-Din, Alsakhur and Al-Haydaria'~R Elmajyan
noted. Though Aleppo is the city most populated with Armenians,
in the mentioned districts our compatriots do not make a large number.

According to the Syrian Human Rights Organization data 17 thousand
192 people died because of the Syrian 16 months ongoing clashes. The
Arab media reports that among the dead11 thousand 897 were peaceful
civilians, and 4348 were security officers. Among the victims there
were 7 Armenians, 2 of which were the Syrian Army militaries. The
Syrian riots make the Syrians leave the country appearing in other
countries as refugees. Recently the Armenian community representatives
also leave the country. The refugee status or asylum applications from
Syria are considered in an accelerated procedure, at least ten days.

The head of the State Migration Service Gagik Eganyan in response to
the question raised by "Armenpress" stated that 6 families with 16
members applied Armenia for an asylum with a refugee status.