On June 16, Ambassador Arman Kirakossian, Head of Permanent Mission of the Republic of Armenia to the OSCE, delivered a statement on the terrorist attacks on civilian population of Aleppo at the 1105th Meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council.

He expressed concern over the recent days’ attacks by the terrorist organization Al-Nusrah Front on Aleppo, which led to numerous casualties among the civilian population.

The Armenian side strongly condemned the continuous and deliberate bombardment of the Christian-populated districts of Aleppo, resulting in human losses and destruction. In the result of those attacks only in the Armenian neighborhood dozens were killed and injured, Armenian nursing home, the Holy Trinity “Zvartnots” Armenian Catholic Church and a number of buildings of scientific-educational, historical-cultural and civilian significance were seriously damaged.

Ambassador Kirakossian mentioned, that since last two years the Mission of Armenia has consistently raised the issue of foreign terrorist fighters, operating in Syria and Iraq, particularly the Islamic State, Al-Nusra Front and other Al-Qaida affiliated terrorist groups and entities. The Ambassador also stressed that ethnic and religious minorities, including the Armenian community are the primary targets of terrorist groups.

The Head of Permanent Mission of the Republic of Armenia to the OSCE stressed, that activity of abovementioned terrorist groups threatens security in the OSCE area. Violent extremism, radicalization and terrorism, target different ethnic and religious minorities, threaten their very existence in the Middle East and contribute towards ongoing migration crisis in the OSCE area. The Armenian community in Aleppo had been formed by the descendents of victims of the Armenian Genocide. After 101 year this besieged community is struggling for its survival in the environment of apparent cross-border support rendered to the terrorist groups.

Ambassador Kirakossian made a reference to the important Ministerial Declarations in Basel and Belgrade, adopted by the OSCE which recognize the grave nature of the problem and the need to fully implement the UN Security Council Resolutions 2170, 2178, 2199 and 2249. The Armenian side strongly called upon all participating States to unconditionally implement their commitments to fight the scourge of terrorism. In particular, Ambassador called on Turkey to prevent the use of its territories by terrorist groups for cross-border attacks against civilian populations, including religious and ethnic minorities in Syria.