Catholicos Aram I, ARS Voice Solidarity with Aleppo’s Armenian Community
As anti-government fighters escalated a siege of the Armenian-populated city of Aleppo in Syria, local sources reported that a 66-year-old Syrian Armenian man was caught in the crossfire and killed.
The man, identified as Edward Arslanian, sustained injuries after being hit by sniper fire while attempting to leave Aleppo on Saturday. He was pronounced dead on Sunday, according to Zarmig Boghigian, the editor of the Aleppo-based Kantsasar Armenian newspaper.
Boghigian told the Armenpress news agency that the situation is complicated, with the Syrian Prelacy urging all Armenians to stay in their homes.
Boghigian told the Yerevan-based Hraparak newspaper that essential services, including schools, universities and institutions are closed, with only hospitals and shops staying in operation. She also reported of shortages of water and other basic needs.
On Monday, Boghigian said, at the Aram Manoukian Armenian Center, an emergency situations committee distributed bread to Armenian community members and their families. The Armenian Relief Cross of Syria has also activated its efforts to assist the community.
The Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia announced Monday that the clashes between Syrian government forces and rebel units were taking place away from the immediate vicinity of the Armenian community.
The Armenian Relief Society Central Executive also issued a statement on social media, expressing the organization’s readiness to assist Syrian Armenians.
“On behalf of the large family of the ARS, we express our readiness to support and stand by the Armenians of Aleppo, with a firm belief that the entire Armenian nation will demonstrate the same willingness to assist our sisters and brothers in Aleppo. The heart of the ARS beats with the Armenians of Aleppo,” the ARS said in its statement.
Armenia’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday said it was monitoring the developments in Aleppo, with the Armenian government temporarily suspending the activities of its humanitarian de-mining and medical team in Aleppo, which has been operating there since 2019. According to government sources, that team has returned to Armenia.
The office of Armenia’s High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs said the situation was too volatile for the Armenian government to be able to assist in transporting Aleppo residents to Armenia.
“Right now, even [Syrian] government forces have no access to Aleppo, and the possibility of evacuation is almost non-existent,” Hovannes Aleksanyan, a spokesman for the High Commissioner of Diaspora Affairs said on Monday.
