ISTANBUL. – Hagop Mikaelyan, who is a well-known member of the Armenian community in Syria, was abducted by the militants of a terrorist group.

The incident occurred when Mikaelyan had headed from Aleppo, Syria, to Beirut, Lebanon, on a bus, Istanbul’s Agos Armenian bilingual weekly reports. But the bus was stopped by the militants of the Syrian rebel group Jabhat al-Nusra, they took Mikaelian out of the bus and allowed the bus to continue on its way.       

Mikaelian’s family members informed that he is alive, and he was able to call on phone and inform about his condition.  

It was found out that the members of the armed group had handed Mikaelian over to a religious “court,” which found him guilty of participating in the rally of the supporters of the regime and “sentenced” him to three months.

To note, writer Hagop Mikaelyan, 70, is the head of the Aleppo Chapter of the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU).