Violent extremism, radicalism and terrorism target the ethnic and religious minorities, endangering their existence in the Middle East.

Head of the Armenian mission to the OSCE, Ambassador Arman Kirakosyan said the aforementioned Thursday at the 1105th meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council. The ambassador made an announcement on the terrorist attacks against the civilian population of Syria’s Aleppo city.

He expressed concern about the recent attacks against Aleppo by the Al-Nusra Front terrorist group, which claimed the lives of various civilians.

The Armenian side harshly condemned the premeditated and consistent bombing of the Christian districts of Aleppo, as a result of which dozens of civilians were killed only in Armenian-settled districts, the Armenian Holy Trinity Catholic Church of Zvartnots, Armenian nursing home and other educational buildings having been seriously damaged.

The Ambassador noted that in the recent years Armenia’s mission has been to voice the issue of foreign terrorist fighters, specifically the Islamic State, Al-Nusra Front , as well as other terrorist groups related to Al Qaeda, which operate in Syria and Iraq.  He also stressed that the ethnic and religious minorities, including the Armenian community, are the primary target of those groups.

Ambassador Kirakosyan noted that the actions of the aforementioned terrorist units pose serious threat to the security of the OSCE region. In his words, violent extremism, radicalism and terrorism target the ethnic and religious minorities, endangering their existence in the Middle East, also exacerbating the migration crisis in the OSCE area.

 

The Armenian Genocide survivors have formed Aleppo’s Armenian community and after 101 years this community is struggling for its existence in the conditions of trans-border support to the terrorist groups, he added.

The Ambassador also referred to the OSCE Basel and Belgrade Ministerial Declarations, as well as UN Security Council resolutions 2170, 2178, 2199 and 2249, urging all the member states to fulfill the obligations taken under these documents in the fight against terrorism. Kirakosyan specifically urged Turkey to prevent using its territory for the trans-border attacks by the terrorist groups against the civilian population, including the religious and ethnic minorities of Syria.