DAMASCUS, ALEPPO (Combined Sources)—Three Armenians were killed under unknown circumstances Tuesday evening in an Armenian neighborhood of the Syrian capital, Damascus reported Aztag Daily.
Bedros Mattosian, 49. Kevork Matossian, 46, and 22-year-old Levon Bedros Matossian, were identified as the latest Syrian Armenians to be killed in the continuing civil unrest in Syria, the Damascus Diocese told Armenpress Tuesday.
On Monday evening, three car bombs exploded in the Armenian-populated Djarmana neighborhood of Damascus, Aztag Daily reported.
On Tuesday afternoon, during a funeral of Druze community member, another car bomb claimed 12 lives. The Damascus Diocese confirmed that during that incident, there were no Armenian victims.
The Djarmana neighborhood has been a Druze community stronghold, with a majority Christian population. During the last two decades some 400 Armenian families have made the neighborhood their home.
Syrian-Armenian community leader Nazareth Elmadjian told Armenpress that clashes continue in Damascus and its suburbs, with government opposition forces targeting major city and town centers. He explained that the Syrian Army has been working to thwart large-scale attacks in Damascus.
Meanwhile in Aleppo, the situation remains tense, yet it is evidently more under control.
Syrian Prelacy spokesperson Jirair Reyissian told Yerkir Media that there were no new victims from the Armenian community in Aleppo.
During the last week, Reyissian said, the densely Armenian-populated areas of Aleppo were under attack. This area, which houses Armenian-owned businesses and organizations, including the Syrian Prelacy (known as the Peria Prelacy), the Forty Martyrs Church and several schools, has come under aerial bombardments and ground attacks.
In another suburb of Aleppo, which houses the Armenian nursing home, attacks have continued. The nursing home has incurred structural damage, but the residents of the home are reportedly safe, according to Reyissian, who added that rebel forces have intermittently entered the home.
Members of the Syrian-Armenian emergency team in Aleppo continue to assess and meet the needs of the community and have distributed basic supplies and food to residents of Armenian-populated areas of Aleppo. The emergency team members have been effective in evacuating community members from hard hit areas, such as the Jedidieh neighborhood.
“We hope that due to the emergency team efforts as well as the people’s resilience will allow them to endure this unnatural situation,” Reyissian told Yerkir Media.
In the Western United States, all community organizations have come together to form the Syrian-Armenian Relief Fund. The group is urging community members to donate and assist in the efforts of helping our community in Syria.
Just a small taste of things to come if the rebels get into power.
If you are so concerned about the things to come, I suggest we also cut off ties with Iran. After all, is not Iran the unequivocal image of Islamic suppression? Why are we embracing them while at the same time allowing our Armenian community to be subjected to Islamic values. Is this not hypocrisy?
All my prayers are with them. Louys hokernin.
May God give them strength through this crisis.
The reporter forgot to add that the funding, logistics, training and weapons with which the terrorist islamists (“opposition fighters”) in Syria are killing Armenians is all American, Saudi and coming from other Arab Gulf States.
Any Arab regime that is bent on secularism, pluralism and respect to minorities (especially Christians) is hated by the brave new zionist world of Hillary Clinton and her mafiosi friends.
And I suppose the saintly Assad regime is democratic and fair. I guess the sufferring of the Lebanese for the past 40 years and the countless missing Lebanese prisoners are something to long for!
Good observation German, and quite true.
Christians were chased out of Iraq after it was broken into three pieces.
Christians are under siege in Egypt: it will only get worse.
However, Sect State Clinton is just a worker bee, a body: she does what her boss Pres Obama tells her to do. Every Sect State, e.g. Albright, Rice, etc does what the POTUS tells them to do.
And POTUS does what he is told to do.(and No, not told by the American people).
It is all about Iran. Sunni Gulf Arab countries and theWest don’t like Iran. Iran needs to stop being such an extreme religious country. If it wasn’t, I’m sure there wouldn’t be such hatred of it.
Iran has been good to Armenia, but discriminates against its Christians–NOTHING like Turkey.
So West and Sunnis (more extremist religious islams) don’t like Shias in Iran, so the Christians must be died, and west will help sunnis to kill Christians? This policy is human hate policy, there is no any democratic goal to crate chaos in other country and use for that sunnis like Al Qaeda or Muslim Brothers……
I think the Armenians in Syria are Syrian citizens who have an Armenian origin, aren’t they??? Therefore, I think that they should sympathize with their fellow Syrian citizens who suffer in a similar manner. Any human soul is valuable. Aren’t the other lost souls as valuable as the “Armenian” ones? The title of the article seems to be inappropriate.
Your critics are not objective!
Iman! Remember this site is for Armenian and not for UN! Armenian are minority in Syria! By the way if we concern about Syrian-Armenians in Syria it doesn’t mean we are happy about Syrian!
First of all Armenians population is not big in Syria,
Second: Armenian should not suffer because of civil war in Syria because they do not have any role in it! They did not start it did they?
Third: It is our duty as an Armenian to help each other!
Finally I could not understand your meaning “aren’t the other lost souls as valuable as the “Armenian” ones? Is their death Armenians fault?
Are you a moral teacher? Is there any moral problem here?
Iman adjust your writing tone!Try to be a little more logical!
Armenians have a free Armenia for the last 20 years.Lets all think about whatever going on in syria lebanon and Iran .and why not the world in general ? <>?.as an Armenian nation .Armenians all over the world we do not know what is the best for us.we need to know.
@Iman: Your observation is correct as far as saying that “Armenians in Syria are Syrian Citizens of Armenian origin”. Yes, 99% of Syrian Armenians sympathize with the Asad regime and the brave soldiers of the Syrian Army.
The reason Syrian Armenians stand behind Asad and those defending the secular Syrian Arab Republic is because modern history has taught us what the alternative is. The “religion of peace” (especially those adhering to the sunni school of the “religion of peace”) always spells an end to the practice of free thought and debate as well as intolerance, bloodshed and destruction wherever it gets a grip on power.
Islamists use democracy as a stepping stone to a much broader agenda that is always anti democratic, non pluralistic and always violent. Iran is unique because although a theocracy, the shia school has traditionally been tolerant to non muslim minorities.
These include Zoroastrians and Bahais who are free to worship in Iran. Compare this to Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Somalia where even professing to believe in such creeds automatically “awards” Zoroastrians and Bahais a death sentence for idolatry (!).
In short – trust Armenians and their healthy instincts to smell the rotten fish that is the islamist takeover of the middle east under the guise of “freedom and democracy”.
That Israel and its ally the Zionist States Of America and the despot Emirs and Sultans of the Petrodollar states support it doesn’t mean its right.