YEREVAN. – The developments unrolling in Syria are impacting the region, Giro Manoyan, Director of the International Secretariat of the ARF Bureau and Head of the Armenian Cause Office, said during a press conference on Thursday. 

He expressed a view that Turkey’s influence is weakening in Syria and this is due to foreign and domestic stimuli, yet this does not mean there is no Turkish presence in Syria. 

“These developments should cause us concern because they could affect our neighbor Iran and [cause] regional tension, as we would be compelled to engage our [other] neighbor, Georgia. We, as a state and a society, must be prepared for all this,” Manoyan noted.   

Reflecting on the Armenian authorities’ actions toward helping the Syrian-Armenian communities, Giro Manoyan stated that these actions were equivalent and, also, the state is taking some other steps which it is not announcing because of security concerns.  

“[Syria’s] All Armenian-populated districts simply became a stage for military operations. This has somewhat reduced today, but there are perils, safety is not guaranteed, there is no stability. The Armenian districts are under the army control, but the situation is somewhat different,” Giro Manoyan concluded.  

Photo by Sona Barseghyan