Author: Kalantarian Kevo

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REVUE DE PRESSE
Lorsque des insurges ont pris d’assaut Kessab, ils ont affiche des
photos d’eux-memes protegeant des eglises anciennes. Mais une visite
dans la ville syrienne raconte une histoire differente.

La pluie s’est infiltree dans les tombes a travers les dalles brisees.

À proximite, une croix en marbre tombent en morceaux. Les fleurs
en plastique, autrefois amoureusement places sur la tombe, ont ete
dechirees et estampillees dans la terre.

A côte du cimetière profane dans la ville syrienne de Kessab se tient
l’eglise evangelique armenienne de la Sainte Trinite. Sa bibliothèque,
ses bancs et son autel ont ete brûles par des pyromanes.

Les auteurs se sont montres a la fois objectifs et joyeux dans leur
destruction de sites chretiens dans cette ancienne ville armenienne.

Les statues ont ete criblees de balles et des slogans islamistes ont
ete griffonnes sur les murs des maisons et les magasins.

Autrefois havre dans la guerre civile en Syrie, niche dans les
collines de la province de Lattaquie, Kessab a acquis une renommee
internationale quand elle a ete capturee par les rebelles au printemps
dernier dans une offensive surprise qui a force 2500 chretiens
armeniens de la ville a fuir.

La Turquie a ete largement accusee d’avoir aide les insurges a capturer
Kessab, en depit de la participation a l’attaque du Jabhat al-Nusra,
une filiale d’Al-Qaïda. Mais les forces armees syriennes ont repris la
ville en Juin après avoir endure trois mois d’occupation rebelle. Le
Telegraph s’est rendu dans la region lors d’un voyage facilite par
le regime syrien pour assister a la suite de la bataille.

La profanation des eglises de Kessab est en contradiction avec les
revendications des rebelles syriens que leurs combattants sont des
protecteurs non-sectaires des residents et de l’heritage chretien. La
preuve ne permet pas egalement a soutenir les affirmations des groupes
pro-gouvernementaux que les chretiens armeniens ont ete “massacres”
lors de l’offensive rebelle.

Lorsque cet assaut a commence l’annee dernière, alors le Premier
ministre de la Turquie, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, etait confronte a une
election generale et ses allies rebelles en Syrie perdaient du terrain
face aux forces du regime. L’offensive sur Kessab visait a renforcer
a la fois les insurges et leurs allies turcs.

Au cours des semaines de planification avant l’assaut, les combattants
rebelles ont recu des ordres stricts d’utiliser l’offensive pour
se montrer comme des > et des allies naturels
de l’Occident.

Kessab est protegee par une chaîne de montagnes, agissant comme une
forteresse naturelle contre l’invasion, et la frontière turque entoure
presque la ville. C’est seulement lorsque les troupes turques ont
permis la libre circulation a travers la frontière que les rebelles
etaient en mesure de prendre d’assaut et de capturer Kessab.

Dans les premières heures, tout semble aller comme prevu. Les insurges,
y compris ceux du groupe islamiste al-Ahrar Sham, ont pose pour des
photos les montrant protegeant les eglises et parler doucement aux
populations locales. Environ 30 Armeniens, qui etaient trop âges ou
fragiles pour echapper a l’offensive, ont ete places dans des minibus
et conduits en Turquie, où ils ont recu un accueil chaleureux qui a
ete couvert dans les moindres details par la television d’Etat.

Ignorant la participation des extremistes islamistes dans l’offensive
– y compris un grand nombre de djihadistes etrangers – Ahmed Jarba,
le chef de la Coalition nationale syrienne, a voyage a Kessab et
revendique une victoire. Mais immediatement après que les projecteurs
des medias soient partis a l’ecart, les habitants de Kessab ont
dit au Telegraph que la profanation a commence. > dit-elle. >.

Parmi lees rebelles figuraient des hommes de Tchetchenie, de Tunisie
et de Libye, a-t-elle dit.

D’autres habitants, qui ont dit qu’ils sont rentres chez eux lorsque
les forces syriennes ont repris la ville, ont decrit avoir trouver
les eglises et le cimetière detruit. Des tweets datant des jours après
que les rebelles aient pris d’assaut la ville le 21 Mars incluent des
images de djihadistes detruisant des croix dans les eglises. D’autres
montrent la mise en feu des magasins vendant de l’alcool et brisant
des bouteilles en verre dans les rues.

Au cours des deux dernières annees, les zones rebelles de la province
de Lattaquie ont ete le domaine de certains des groupes les plus
extremistes et intransigeants.

Les chretiens n’ont pas ete leurs seules cibles. En 2013, les
djihadistes ont attaque plusieurs villages de Lattaquie habitees par la
minorite alaouite. Ils ont assassine des dizaines de civils et enleve
des centaines de femmes et d’enfants, dont certains sont toujours
portees disparues. Les extremistes de l’Etat islamique d’Irak et du
Levant (Isil) sont soupconnes d’avoir rejoint ces attaques. À travers
la Syrie, les islamistes extremistes ont acquis une position dominante
dans le mouvement rebelle pour renverser le regime de Bachar al-Assad.

Joshua Landis, un expert du conflit, estime que les rebelles
non-islamistes contrôlent desormais moins de 5 pour cent de la Syrie,
avec le reste du pays divise entre le regime, Isil ou Jabhat al-Nusra.

La plupart des habitants de Kessab ont pu s’echapper avant que leur
ville ne tomba aux mains des insurges. Il n’existe aucune preuve
de > de civils reclames par les partisans du regime –
a un moment cense etre > avec des images qui ont ete plus
tard identifie comme des extraits d’un film d’horreur.

Mais la chute de la ville armenienne a fait ressurgir les souvenirs
amers de la persecution. En 1909, des dizaines de milliers d’Armeniens
ont ete tues lors du massacre d’Adana sous l’empire ottoman.

Puis, en 1915, encore 5000 residents de Kessab ont ete tues par les
Ottomans pendant ce que certains historiens considèrent que le > de la minorite armenienne. Aujourd’hui, Kessab revient
a la vie, mais la vie de ces personnes qui ont regagne leurs foyers
semble loin d’etre assure. Les soldats turcs peuvent etre vus sur
les collines près de la ville, les postes de contrôle frontaliers a
travers lesquels les rebelles ont traverse pour effectuer l’attaque.

L’explosion occasionnelle d’obus de char sert comme un rappel que la
guerre civile est toujours a proximite.

Par Ruth Sherlock, Kessab

3 Jan 2015

Telegraph.co.uk

lundi 12 janvier 2015, Stephane (c)armenews.com

JE SUIS CHARLIE: ARMENIAN FM ATTENDS ANTI-TERROR RALLY IN PARIS

NEWS | 12.01.15 | 10:46

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian was among dozens of
world leaders and top diplomats attending a large rally in Paris,
held on Sunday to show unity of the people of France in the wake
of a series of deadly terrorist, including the killing of satirical
magazine journalists earlier last week.

The prime target of the attacks carried out by home-bred gunmen linked
with Al-Qaeda was the popular French satirical journal, Charlie Hebdo,
12 of whose staff members, including senior editors, were killed. The
attack on the magazine that had published cartoons of Prophet Muhammad
in the past shook the nation and the entire world and was taken by
the people of France and the broader international community as an
attack against freedom of expression.

The three Islamist terrorists continued their rampage, including
hostage-taking, in other locations of France before being hunted down
and killed by police. They had slain a total of 17 innocent citizens
by then.

French President Francois Hollande led the Sunday gathering that had
brought together about a million people in the center of Paris.

“Today, Paris is the capital of the world. The entire country will
rise up,” the French leader said, as quoted by international media.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister David Cameron,
the prime ministers of Israel, Italy, the president of Ukraine and
other world leaders attended the event.

Earlier, Armenia also added its voice to the chorus of strong
international condemnation of the armed attacks in France. On January
7, President Serzh Sargsyan sent a letter to his French counterpart
Hollande strongly condemning the shootings, offerings his condolences
to the families of the victims and expressing solidarity with France.

“We strongly condemn all manifestations of terrorism and reiterate
our continued commitment to continuing the fight against international
terrorism,” Sargsyan emphasized in his message.

FIRST SHOT MADE IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

Igor Muradyan, Political Analyst
Country – 11 January 2015, 23:56

We do not possess any functional information aside from what the press
informed. Starting March 2015 the Armenian office of the National
Democratic Institute funded by the U.S. government will freeze its
activities “for an indefinite time”.

This institute is widely known as the political and ideological
instrument of the U.S. Democratic Party. For many years, the Armenian
office of this institute, as well as a lot of other donors generously
encouraged the activities of these people or rather the personal
activities of those who worked for the Russian interests, or rather
the interests of common totalitarianism in Armenia.

Receiving money from such institutions of the West, those people did
not stop their activities aimed at the interests of Russia and those
who were implementing a pro-Russian policy in Armenia. They have been
warned for a number of times but, apparently, inertia is more powerful.

The first shot was made in the right direction: it is not worthwhile
continuing to feed those people who failed the job they were doing.

Other similar institutions are standing in line. They have sufficient
dossier on these pro-Russian people.

ARMENIAN POLICE ANNOUNCE HUNT FOR RUSSIAN SOLDIER

YEREVAN, January 12. / ARKA /. Armenian law-enforcement bodies said a
Russian soldier from the Russian military base in the town of Gyumri,
identified as Valery Permyakov, is suspected of killing six members
of a local family.

According to investigators, the victims are a couple, their son
and daughter-in-law, a 2-year-old granddaughter, and an unmarried
daughter. They all were found shot dead in their house on January 12.

The couple’s six-month-old grandson was hospitalized in a grave
condition.

The Police have issued a statement calling on all those who have seen
Valery Permyakov to call the number 1-02 or visit the nearest police
station. The Police said they are investigating the crime together
with representatives from the military base.

Armenia is a member of the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO) and the Eurasian Economic Union.-0-

MAKARYAN: ARMENIA SHOULD NOT LINK ITS FUTURE DEVELOPMENT TO RUSSIA ONLY

15:53 12/01/2015 >> ECONOMY

Armenia should not link its future development to Russia’s economy
only, chairman of the Republican Union of Employers of Armenia Gagik
Makaryan told Panorama.am.

In his words, the devaluation of the Russian ruble will continue and
the oil prices will continue falling, and this will aggravate the
financial and economic crisis in Russia.

“Armenia should develop an independent strategy so that it could be
presented in the markets of European and Arab countries,” Makaryan
said.

“It means that we should draw attention of big states and show
flexibility. If we depend on Russia only, we will be defeated since
it is not known how long the situation in Russia will continue,”
he said, adding that Armenia should be able to find alternative ways
for withstanding the changes in global economy.

Source: Panorama.am

ARMENIAN DEPUTY FM, RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR DISCUSS THE GYUMRI MURDER

18:54, 12 Jan 2015

Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan received Russian
Ambassador to Armenia Ivan Volynkin.

The parties expressed deep concern over the brutal killing of the
Avetisyan family in Gyumri.

The Russian Ambassador offered his condolences and noted that the
Russian side is interested in disclosing the details of the case and
holding the guilty accountable as soon as possible.

He stressed that the Russian military base in Gyumri cooperates with
the Armenian law-enforcement bodies and provides necessary assistance.

KARABAKH: AZERBAIJAN USED UAVS IN CEASEFIRE VIOLATIONS

Karabakh | 12.01.15 | 13:58

Military authorities in Stepanakert have reported the use of unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAV) by Azerbaijan amid an increased rate of ceasefire
violations along the line of contact.

The Defense Ministry of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic said on Sunday
that the previous night Azerbaijani armed forces violated the truce
200 times, firing at least 2,000 shots from different firearms.

It said the Defence Army’s units are in full control of the situation
and retaliate if necessity.

Meanwhile, the Karabakh Defense Ministry also reported attempts by
Azerbaijani forces to infiltrate into Armenian-controlled territory
in the northeastern (Jraberd) and eastern (Akna) directions last night.

It said both attempts were timely spotted by Karabakh’s advanced
units and were stopped.

Also today, Armenian Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovhannisyan
said in a Facebook post that Armenia’s armed forces allowed Azerbaijan
to recover the body of one of its servicemen who was part of a sabotage
group that attempted to infiltrate into Armenian-controlled territory
in Tavush on Sunday afternoon.

An Armenian herdsman who happened to be in the area was killed in
the exchange of fire during the engagement in which Hovhannisyan said
Armenian forces managed to stop the Azeri raid.

Prensa Latina
Jan 10 2015

Extremist Attacks Damage Historic Church in Syria

sábado, 10 de enero de 2015

10 de enero de 2015, 12:31Damascus, Jan 10 (Prensa Latina) The
historic St. Rita Cathedral, in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo,
was damaged today by the impact of mortar shells launched by the
Islamic Front, national TV stations reported today.

Footage showed holes in the roofs and walls, as well as in the temple
chapel belonging to Armenian Catholics.

This week, the Islamic State blew up the al Rawi mosque in the Deir
Ezzor province, as part of its systematic attacks against buildings of
peoplo who oppose its radical and ultraconservative vision.

Meanwhile, the al Nusra Front, a branch of Al Qaeda in Syria,
demolished the sanctuary to Imam al Nawawi some days ago in the area
of Nawa, Daraa.

Armed groups have destroyed or damaged many religious monuments in
Syria, including the Great Umayyad Mosque�Ã-s minaret in Aleppo, the
Khalid Bin Al Walid mosque and the Umal Zennar Church in Homs, and the
al Omari mosque�Ã-s minaret in Daraa.

rma/cbr/mgt/rob

COMMUNIQUÉ DU CCAF
Non à la présence des autorités liberticides turques à la marche républicaine

Le CCAF apprend avec indignation la présence d’Ahmet Davutoglu, voire
peut-être même de Reccep Tayyip Erdogan à la marche républicaine de
dimanche. La participation à cette manifestation de représentants d’un
Etat qui détient le record du nombre de journalistes en prison est une
honte et une insulte à l’esprit de Charlie Hebdo. D’autant plus que
l’aide de la Turquie à la mouvance djihadiste (Al Quaïda et Daesch)
qui a exporté sa terreur à Paris est aujourd’hui un secret de
polichinelle. Faut-il de plus rappeler que se commémore parallèlement
le lche assassinat de trois militantes kurdes en plein paris le 10
janvier 2014 ? Un attentat sur lequel pèsent nombre de soupçons quant
à l’implication des services turcs. Cette présence, qui intervient de
surcroit quelques jours après qu’Erdogan a déclaré le 6 janvier que la
Turquie allait “activement combattre les allégations du génocide
arménien” – dont on commémore en 2015 les 100 ans – constitue une
véritable provocation. Et ce, à quelques jours du 8e anniversaire de
l’assassinat à Istanbul, le 19 janvier 2007, du journaliste Hrant Dink
– Charlie avant Charlie -, dont les commanditaires courent toujours.

Le CCAF qui appelle à la manifestation demande à ses organisateurs
d’empêcher ou d’exprimer leur réprobation à l’égard cette venue qui
constitue un outrage aux morts et à toutes les valeurs que la marche
de dimanche entend défendre.

Bureau nationale du CCAF (Conseil de Coordination des organisations
arméniennes de France)

Avec le soutien du Comité de Soutien aux Chrétiens d’Irak

dimanche 11 janvier 2015,
Ara (c)armenews.com

Optimistic scenarios can hardly be expected – economists

12:11 * 11.01.15

The Russian ruble showed depreciation early in January 2015 as
compared with late December 2014, with simultaneous appreciation of
the USD against the Armenian dram.

In an interview with Tert.am, economist Zoya Tadevosyan spoke of
possible developments in Armenia’s financial market, especially after
commercial banks resume their work. According to her, a number of
economists forecast “hard times” after the New Year. Economist Artak
Manukyan forecast further AMD depreciation amid economic problems in
Russia and Armenia’s uncompetitive economy and consistently decreasing
money transfers in the first three months of the year.

“What can make the Armenian dram appreciate if we have no economy as
such? Nothing can help the Armenian dram stabilize. Our country has no
resources for that so further depreciation should be expected.
Creating real economy is a major preventive measure. The situation
will change after economy starts manufacturing products and exporting.
Exported products enable foreign exchange to enter the country.
Otherwise, the process cannot be prevented,” Ms Tadevosyan said.

The Central Bank of Armenia cannot do anything by means of regular
interventions.

“They pegged the exchange the previous months by spending huge
resources. But the Central Bank has no resources now.”

With respect to Armenia’s economic dependence on Russia, Ms Tadevosyan said.

“This is a grave problem, and we have repeatedly stated that the
current economic policy will deprive Armenia of all the levers. And we
have reached this point.”

Economist Artak Manukyan forecasts social problems in the first three
months of 2015.

“In January we are going to have a higher price rise because the
prices for most products that rose due to the AMD depreciation last
December did not go down later. We can say that the unfavorable
factors related to the Eurasian Economic Community are more than
positive ones,” he said.

“I do not think we are going to witness a situation similar to that
last month. But there are no optimistic scenarios, especially with oil
prices going down to the historically lowest level. In this respect,
the Russian ruble has stabilized. If we analyze the situation we can
see further AMD depreciation, and I do not see any grounds for an
opposite process.”