The ceasefire was violated on November 27, the Syrian anti-government Islamist forces quickly occupied Aleppo within two or three days and advanced to the south; now the main battles are going on in the area of Hama city and district of the same name. Hovhannes Aleksanyan, Head of the Department of Integration of Repatriates at the Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs of Armenia, told this to a press conference Thursday.

According to him, the situation has changed dramatically for the Armenians of Aleppo because the aforesaid attack was unexpected—although the expert circles can indicate that the whole thing was being prepared.

"But there was a surprise regarding the attack on such a scale. In the first one or two days, it was possible for Armenian families to leave the city by non-main roads, secondary roads. We have information and are in contact with those families, some of which are already established in Damascus, some have reached Latakia, and there are families in Kessab. In the first days, the situation around Kessab was also complicated and even the organizations called on the people of Kessab to be ready to leave the city. But within a day or two, the [Syrian] state government forces received reinforcements, and there is no risk to Kessab at the moment," he said.

As for the current situation in Aleppo, Aleksanyan said: "According to our data, there are around 10 to 12 thousand Armenians in Aleppo at the moment, and Armenians are mainly located in three districts: Norgyugh, Aziziyah, and Sulaymaniyah. We certainly have Armenian institutions in other districts as well."

Aleksanyan noted that this time the Islamists are much more moderate in their relations with the society of the city, and this may be a new tactic on their part.

"Nevertheless, the Armenian society is restless, there is great panic; many were not ready to leave the city. Currently, it is very difficult to organize an evacuation, to have an evacuation plan at all. (…). I must note that we are in contact with both [Armenian] community institutions and the embassy [in Syria], a hotline has been posted on the [web] pages of the embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs [of Armenia], through which the compatriots can contact the embassy," said Hovhannes Aleksanyan.