Brigade of Martyr Nubar Ozanyan: “We Will Defend Rojava Revolution!”

In the name of the Armenian military brigade of Martyr Nubar Ozanyan, we condemn and denounce the Turkish fascist dictatorial airstrikes, which took place in the last days and targeted civilian centers and institutions. These attacks and violations that the cities and countryside in the Cizîre and Euphrates regions were exposed to, are considered as crimes against humanity.

The brutal attacks caused numbers of martyrs and wounded, both civilians and soldiers. The attacks and the shock that Turkish fascism wants to cause will not break the will of the people to continue their revolution, but rather will give them a stronger will to struggle to achieve the goals of the revolution and to give an answer to Turkish fascism. These attacks didn’t target a specific organisation or specific people, but rather all components in northern and eastern Syria. The assaults by Turkish fascism show and demonstrate the extent of the hostility and brutality practiced against our people and against all humanity, just as the Ottoman Empire did against the local peoples on its lands by massacring and displacing the Armenian, Syriac, Assyrian, Kurd and Arab people.

There is no difference between what the Ottoman Empire did and what Turkish fascism is doing today. The only difference is in name and form, but the mentality has not changed. This is also the case in Karabagh where fascism has risen. Turkey supports the Azerbaijani dictatorship, committing genocide and new displacement against the Armenian people. The Armenians were once more displaced from their lands in Karabagh. Before this displacement, the worst types of siege were practiced on the Armenian people, which led to the death of many as a result of hunger, cold and lack of the basics of life. The same policy is practiced on our people in Rojava.

Our people were subjected to displacement and killing, as happened in Serêkanîye and Girê Spî or Efrîn. Likewise, the residents who remained in their homes are attacked on a daily basis, including kidnappings and theft of public property. Likewise, we see today that Turkish fascism is working to spread strife between the different nations in the region of Rojava with the aim of breaking their unity, such as the recent events that took place in Deir ez-Zor and the attempt to split between the Arab and Kurdish components in these regions. Today we must have awareness of these policies and not fall into the nets that Turkish fascism has tried to sow. We have to push for unity among the different people, that’s our revolution, the Rojava revolution.

It is the revolution of women’s struggle, and women are considered as the basis of this fight, therefore the Turkish occupation state works to target women in all areas of life, whether political, military or civil. On this basis the experienced comrade Jîyan Tolhildan was targeted, so as the President of the Syrian Future Party, Martyr Hevrîn Xelef and many attacks like those still going on.

The recent bombing on the areas of Rojava are just part of a series of many attacks by the Turkish occupation state. The Turkish mentality is constant and has not changed, as it only has a policy of killing and destruction. Even with all these attacks, Turkish fascism will not be able to finish the revolution, because it is built on the blood of the martyrs of our people, and our struggle will continue until the victory of our revolution. Long live our martyrs and we wish a fast recovery to our wounded.

Armenian Military Brigade of Martyr Nubar Ozanyan
8.10.2023

Armenians in North-East Syria express solidarity with the Armenians in Karabakh

The Council of Armenian Community made a statement denouncing the atrocities against the Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh (Republic of Artsakh), which was captured by Azerbaijan after a lightning military operation on 20 September.

The government of Nagorno-Karabakh announced last week that it will dissolve itself and the unrecognized republic will cease to exist by year’s end after a three-decade bid for independence. Over a hundred thousand Armenians living in the region have fled to Armenia after more than 200 people died during the attacks and more than 400 others were injured.

Dozens of Armenian citizens gathered at Syriac Square in Heseke city. The press statement read by the co-chair of the Union of Armenian Women, Arbi Kesbiryan, said the following:

“As the Armenian population in North-East Syria, we express our support for our people who have been subjected to atrocities and suffering at the hands of the enemies in Karabakh. The Azerbaijani state, which has been attacking the Armenians in Karabakh since 2020, must put an end to its violations against our people on Armenian lands after their employment of all forms of genocide against the Armenians just like the invading Turkish state.”
The statement pointed out that the Karabakh incident was a continuation of what was done to the Armenian people in 1915.

Denouncing the international silence about the crimes against the Armenian people, the statement said: “We reiterate our promise to our people in Karabakh. The Turkish state and its collaborators will not be able to annihilate the Armenian people. We will be standing against those who attempt to rape our rights to destroy the Armenians.”

Over 88,000 people from the Karabakh region have fled to Armenia

On 20 September, Azerbaijan launched a lightning military operation against Armenia’s Nagorno-Karabakh (Republic of Artsakh) and captured the region, the defeated leadership of which agreed to lay down arms only one day later. While more than 200 people died during the attacks and more than 400 others were injured, Azerbaijani officials promised “re-integration” of ethnic Armenians into Azerbaijani society.

The government of Nagorno-Karabakh announced on Thursday that it will dissolve itself and the unrecognized republic will cease to exist by year’s end after a three-decade bid for independence. Over 88,000 refugees from the Karabakh region have fled to Armenia in less than a week and humanitarian needs are surging, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday. According to UNICEF, 30 per cent of those arriving are minors and many have been separated from their families.

Earlier this week, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, reiterated her “strong concern” over the ongoing situation and called for “all efforts to be made” to ensure the protection and human rights of the ethnic Armenian population who remain in the area and of those who have left.

A major concern for humanitarians is that many children have been separated from their families, said Regina De Dominicis, UNICEF Regional Director and Special Coordinator for Refugee and Migrant Response in Europe. “So we are working in providing first of all psychosocial support and working with the ministries and local authorities as well to make sure that family-tracing is done immediately and families can unite,” 

Since Sunday, Armenian villages near the border with the Karabakh region have turned into makeshift refugee camps. Some of those seeking shelter had only minutes to pack to leave by cars, buses and construction trucks, they said. While many refugees expressed relief at reaching Armenia from Azerbaijan, they remain traumatized and confused about the future, according to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

“It was so evident on everyone – children, men, women, elderly – the expressions on the faces of those who walk into registration points speak volumes,” said IFRC’s Hicham Diab, speaking from Armenia’s capital Yerevan.

Armenian Social Council: SDF holds the key to peace in Syria

Members of the Armenian Social Council made a statement to the press in front of the council’s headquarters in the Kibaba neighborhood of Heseke.

The statement read by the co-chair of the council, Imad Teteryan, denounced the attempts of foreign powers and their collaborators that seek to incite sedition among the peoples in the region by distorting the Syrian Democratic Forces’ (SDF) Operation Security Reinforcement against ISIS cells and criminal elements in Deir ez-Zor region and by portraying it as a campaign against tribes.

“The SDF is not a Kurdish force as some circles claim, but is made up of Arabs, Kurds, Armenians, Syriacs, Assyrians, Turkmens, Circassians, Christians, Muslims and Yazidis. The SDF protects all components and religions. It has freed the region from the atrocities, persecution and terror of ISIS mercenaries and their supporters. Half of the fighters in SDF ranks are made up of the children of the Arab population and tribes,” said the statement.

The Armenian Social Council pointed out that: “We are against any form of discrimination between religions. We are meant to live together in our land with pride, honor, love and peace. We support the SDF and the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. We stand against the intended instigation.”

The council stressed that the SDF holds the key to peace in Syria and is the people’s hope for freedom and equality.

We commemorate our founding leader, the Armenian fedayeen, the immortal commander Nubar Ozanyan

We stand today with pride to salute martyrdom as a symbol of the resistance and revolution for freedom, justice and equality. Today we stand to commemorate Nubar Ozanyan, a journey of struggle and resistance that lasted more than 60 years.

Comrade Nubar began to rise among the ranks of the TKP-ML and to the revolutionary movements that seek to free and serve people and confront dictatorial fascism, after which he became an important recruiter, trainer and leader who planned battles and war. He participated in the war between Karabagh and Azerbaijan between 1991 and 1992. On this day, Karabagh needs a new Ozanyan spirit. Then Nubar Ozanyan noticed the Israeli-Zionist aggressions against the #Palestinian people. He went to Palestine to join the Palestinian people in their struggle for freedom. They came to Rojava to confront the terrorist organization ISIS and to liberate the peoples, of course Armenian people, but also the Kurdish people, the Arab people, and the Yazidi people. We pledge our martyr example Nubar Ozanyan, and we say to him and to all the martyrs that we will follow our promise, and we will complete the march that you started in order to bring liberation to the oppressed peoples.

Armenian Brigade of Ş. Nubar Ozanyan

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Missak Manouchian is to be buried in the Pantheon

The Armenian communist resistance fighter, Missak Manouchian, who was shot by the Nazis in 1944, is to be buried in the Pantheon, the famous mausoleum built by the French Republic in recognition of its “Great Men”. Missak Manouchian, born in 1906, was an orphan and a survivor of the Armenian genocide of 1915. He arrived in France at the age of 19. A factory worker, communist activist, journalist and poet, he became a member of the Resistance when the Nazis occupied France. He led a group of foreign resistance fighters who formed part of the Francs-Tireurs et Partisans, the communist resistance units. The “Manouchian group” carried out numerous attacks against fascist interests and assassinated high-ranking Nazi officers. The group of around twenty resistance fighters was eventually arrested on 16 November 1943. Tried and convicted, Missak Manouchian and his 22 companions were shot by the fascists at Mont-Valérien on 21 February 1944. His wife Mélinée, an Armenian resistance fighter who outlived her husband by 45 years, will also be enshrined in the Pantheon.

The Armenian People’s Assembly made a written statement regarding the attacks carried out by the Turkish state

The statement said: “The Armenian people will defend our lands by fighting against all attacks. We will not take a single step back. We know the Turkish state closely because of the massacres and genocides it has committed in history. The Turkish state has a bloody history and continues to attack. For this reason, as the children of a people subjected to genocide, we will protect the regions and lands we live in, and we will never leave the battlefield.”

The latest attack by the Turkish state on 20 June, which resulted in the death of Qamishlo Canton Council co-chair Yusra Darwish, her deputy Leyman Shiwesh and council member Firat Tûma, and the injury of co-chair Şemûn Gabî, was condemned.

108 years ago, the Armenian Genocide

In April 1915, the Ottoman government embarked upon the systematic extermination of its civilian Armenian population. The persecutions continued with varying intensity until 1923, when the Ottoman Empire ceased to exist and was replaced by the Republic of Turkey. 

The Armenian population of the Ottoman state was reported at about two million in 1915. An estimated one million had perished by 1918, while hundreds of thousands had become homeless and stateless refugees. By 1923, virtually the entire Armenian population of Anatolian Turkey had disappeared.

The Ottoman Empire was ruled by the Turks who had conquered lands extending across West Asia, North Africa and Southeast Europe. The Ottoman government was centered in Istanbul (Constantinople) and was headed by a sultan who was vested with absolute power. The Turks practiced Islam and were a martial people. 

The Armenians, a Christian minority, lived as second class citizens subject to legal restrictions which denied them normal safeguards. Neither their lives nor their properties were guaranteed security. As non-Muslims, they were also obligated to pay discriminatory taxes and denied participation in government. Scattered across the empire, the status of the Armenians was further complicated by the fact that the territory of historical Armenia was divided between the Ottomans and the Russians.

When World War I broke out in August 1914, the Ottoman Empire formed part of the Triple Alliance with the other Central Powers, Germany and Austria-Hungary, and it declared war on Russia and its Western allies, Great Britain and France.

The Ottoman armies initially suffered a string of defeats, which they made up with a series of easy military victories in the Caucasus in 1918 before the Central Powers capitulated later that same year. 

Whether retreating or advancing, the Ottoman army used the occasion of war to wage a collateral campaign of massacre against the civilian Armenian population in the regions in which warfare was being conducted. These measures were part of the genocidal program secretly adopted by the CUP and implemented under the cover of war. They coincided with the CUP’s larger program to eradicate the Armenians from Turkey and neighboring countries for the purpose of creating a new Pan-Turanian empire. Through the spring and summer of 1915, in all areas outside the war zones, the Armenian population was ordered deported from their homes. Convoys consisting of tens of thousands, including men, women, and children, were driven hundreds of miles toward the Syrian desert.

The deportations were disguised as a resettlement program. The brutal treatment of the deportees, most of whom were made to walk to their destinations, made it apparent that the deportations were mainly intended as death marches. Moreover, the policy of deportation surgically removed the Armenians from the rest of society and disposed of great masses of people with little or no destruction of property. The displacement process, therefore, also served as a major opportunity orchestrated by the CUP for the plundering of the material wealth of the Armenians and proved an effortless method of expropriating all of their immovable properties.

The government had made no provisions for the feeding of the deported population. Starvation took an enormous toll, much as exhaustion felled the elderly, the weaker and the ill. Deportees were denied food and water in a deliberate effort to hasten death. The survivors who reached northern Syria were collected at a number of concentration camps whence they were sent further south to die under the scorching sun of the desert. Through methodically organized deportation, systematic massacre, deliberate starvation and dehydration, and continuous brutalization, the Ottoman government reduced its Armenian population to a frightened mass of famished individuals whose families and communities had been destroyed in a single stroke.

Most of those implicated in war crimes evaded justice and many joined the new Nationalist Turkish movement led by Mustafa Kemal. In a series of military campaigns against Russian Armenia in 1920, against the refugee Armenians who had returned to Cilicia in southern Turkey in 1921, and against the Greek army that had occupied Izmir where the last intact Armenian community in Anatolia still existed in 1922, the Nationalist forces completed the process of eradicating the Armenians through further expulsions and massacres. When Turkey was declared a republic in 1923 and received international recognition, the Armenian Question and all related matters of resettlement and restitution were swept aside and soon forgotten.

In all, it is estimated that up to a million and a half Armenians perished at the hands of Ottoman and Turkish military and paramilitary forces and through atrocities intentionally inflicted to eliminate the Armenian demographic presence in Turkey. 

The surviving refugees spread around the world and eventually settled in some two dozen countries on all continents of the globe. Triumphant in its total annihilation of the Armenians and relieved of any obligations to the victims and survivors, the Turkish Republic adopted a policy of dismissing the charge of genocide and denying that the deportations and atrocities had constituted part of a deliberate plan to exterminate the Armenians. 

(Compiled with information from the Armenian National Institute)

Armenian community in Rojava calls for an end to Nagorno-Karabakh siege

The Armenian community in Rojava has called on the West to act against the siege of Nagorno-Karabakh. Since mid-December, the population there has been cut off from the outside world due to an Azerbaijani blockade.

The Armenian community in the autonomous region of North and East Syria has called on the international community to act against the siege of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh). The Azerbaijani blockade of the region is threatening a humanitarian catastrophe there, the Armenian Society Council and the Women’s Council of Armenians in Rojava said at a rally in front of the UN mission in Qamishlo, adding that immediate action is long overdue. “The world must not allow another genocide against our people. Act humanely and with values in mind, and work for the release of the lifeline of Nagorno-Karabakh.”

The lifeline refers to the Lachin corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia. Since mid-December, Azerbaijan has blocked this artery. 120,000 people, including 30,000 children, have been cut off from the rest of the world and thus from any supply. Previously, Armenia delivered 400 tons of food to the region every day. But under the blockade, both the import of food and medicine and the transport, for example, of sick people out of Nagorno-Karabakh are impossible.

“This policy of starvation and siege with the aim of a complete occupation of Armenian Karabakh has already claimed its first fatalities,” said a joint statement by Armenian associations read out by Kohar Khaja Dorian for the Women’s Council and Imad Tatrian for the Societies Council. They said the blockade was in violation of international and humanitarian law and should be dealt with accordingly by the international community. “Over a hundred thousand people are trying to survive in precarious conditions in the middle of winter, without food, medical care or electricity. Geopolitical and geostrategic interests of the West must not lead to soft-pedalling on human rights.”

The Lachin corridor has been secured by Russian peacekeepers under a treaty since the supposed end of the Azerbaijani-Turkish war of aggression on Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020. Nevertheless, on 12 December, alleged “eco-activists” from Azerbaijan set up a roadblock there with the aim of stopping “illegal mining”. The aim was to demonstrate against the “exploitation of Azerbaijan’s gold and copper deposits by Armenia”, they said. The Armenian side, on the other hand, speaks of a state-coordinated action. Accordingly, the alleged eco-activists are members of the military and the secret service, and the fairy tale of environmental protection is only a pretext for a new invasion. Azerbaijan, they say, has never cared about environmental issues, and there is no such thing as a civil society in this authoritarian country.

Earlier this week, Armenia appealed to the International Court of Justice over the Nagorno-Karabakh siege to impose emergency measures against Azerbaijan and oblige it to lift the blockade. The government in Baku denies blocking the Lachin corridor to cut off supplies to the population. It accuses Armenia of transporting weapons and mines through the road, in violation of the terms of the ceasefire. A ruling by the UN court is expected in a few weeks.