Lebanese Foreign Minister: Paris and Beirut Attacks Are Connected; Both Countries Stand as Symbols of Diversity, Freedom of Speech, and Religion
A series of coordinated attacks were carried out in the French capital of Paris and its northern suburb Saint-Denis on the evening of Nov. 13. The attacks—which included mass shootings, suicide bombings, and hostage-taking—took the lives of 129 victims, while 415 others sustained injuries and were admitted to hospitals; 80 were described as being seriously injured.
The deadliest of the attacks took place at the Bataclan Theater, where attackers held concert-goers hostage and had a stand-off with police. Eighty-nine of the victims were killed in the theater. Seventeen-year-old French-Armenian Lola Ouzounian, who was attending the Eagles of Death Metal concert at the Bataclan Theater at the time of the attack, is among the victims. Mourad Papazian, the president of the Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations of France (CCAF), told Armenia’s News.am that Ouzounian’s family had identified her body on Nov. 17.
Two other French Armenians present at the concert survived the attack, according to Hilda Tchoboian, a member of the Rhone-Alpes Regional Parliament in France. Speaking to Armenpress, Tchoboian said that the two young men escaped the theater after they heard gunfire from the restroom.
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) quickly claimed responsibility for the attacks, which are considered the deadliest in France since World War II, and the deadliest in Europe since the Madrid train bombings in 2004, which claimed the lives of 191 people. Falsified Syrian passports were found near the bodies of two of the suspected attackers. The fake passports were likely produced in Turkey, reported France’s channel 4 news.
On Nov. 15, a video surfaced online showing ISIS supporters celebrating the Paris attack on the streets of Gaziantep, Turkey. The supporters in the video can be seen honking horns and flying the ISIS flag out of their cars while diving down a street in Gaziantep:
In response to the deadly attacks, French President François Hollande declared three days of national mourning, announced a state of emergency, and placed a temporary closure of the country’s borders. Two days following the attack, on Nov. 15, France struck ISIS targets in Al-Raqqah, Syria, by air.
In a video released on Nov. 16, ISIS threatened that all countries taking part in air strikes against Syria would suffer attacks similar to the one in Paris. In the video, which appeared on a website used by ISIS to release messages, armed militants specifically threatened to attack targets in Washington, D.C.
“We say to the states that take part in the crusader campaign that, by God, you will have a day, God willing, like France’s, and by God, as we struck France in the center of its abode in Paris, then we swear that we will strike America at its center in Washington,” said one of the men in the video shared by Reuters.
A day before the Paris attacks, two suicide bombers detonated explosives in Bourj el-Barajneh, a southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, which claimed the lives of 43 people. The bombings, which ISIS also claimed responsibility for, occurred in the commercial quarter of Bourj el-Barajneh, near the General Security Post on Hussaineya Street, according to al-Manar television. The area is known to be a stronghold of Hezbollah.
According to reports, the first bombing took place outside a Shia mosque, while the second happened five minutes later inside a nearby bakery, as people tried to help those injured in the initial blast. A potential third attacker was killed before exploding his vest, according to reports.
The Central Committee of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) of Lebanon released a statement condemning the Beirut attacks, calling them acts of terrorism that “targeted all Lebanese people, and not just one part of Lebanon.”
“Terrorism knows neither religion nor denominations. This is a threat that jeopardizes Lebanese society as a whole,” read a part of the statement. The Central Committee also urged all Lebanese political forces to come together and combat all acts of violence that threaten the unity and security of Lebanon.
On Nov. 14, speaking at a conference in Vienna on the Syrian conflict, Lebanese Foreign Minister Gibran Bassil said that the acts of terrorism perpetrated in Beirut and Paris are not coincidental and that they are surely connected, since both Lebanon and France are symbols of freedom of speech and religion, as well as diversity.
“[The] nature of the two crimes and their timing, which is a few days after the Russian airplane incident and ahead of today’s meeting, confirm that they are sending us a message that terrorism is capable of waging wars and coordinating systematic attacks at the same time wherever they want,” Bassil said on Saturday.
Sarkisian Sends Condolence Letters to Lebanese PM and French President
Armenian President Serge Sarkisian sent condolence letters to Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam and French President Francois Hollande following the two attacks.
“In recent years, the growth of this kind of inhuman violence in different countries of the world gives rise to serious concerns. I am confident that each member of the civilized community will join the struggle against this evil facing us. We must not allow violence, extremism, and intolerance to prevail. We are obliged to make concerted efforts at revealing and eradicating all those factors which cause such horrible manifestations of extremism,” read a part of Sarkisian’s letter to Hollande.
Sarkisian’s letter to Salam strongly condemned the terrorist attack that took place in Beirut. He said the attack “aimed at disrupting stability and security both in Lebanon and in the region.”
Armenians Express Grief in Yerevan and Stepanakert
Following the Paris attacks, hundreds of people visited Yerevan’s French embassy and France Square to lay flowers and hold vigils in commemoration of the victims of Friday’s attack. President Sarkisian also visited the square on Saturday to pay homage to the victims. Earlier in the day, Sarkisian strongly condemned the attacks and expressed solidarity with the French nation when speaking at an event held at the Musa Ler Memorial in Armenia’s Armavir Province on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Musa Ler resistance.
The Musa Ler self-defense “was one of the heroic episodes of the Armenian history to which our French brothers made an invaluable contribution. A hundred years have passed but our sense of gratitude has not weakened even a bit…Unfortunately, by the irony of fate, we witnessed last night terrorist attacks—unprecedented terrorist acts by their scale—committed in the heart of France, Paris. All of us are deeply shocked by it. I strongly condemn those terrific and ghastly actions which claimed multiple innocent lives,” Sarkisian said in his speech.
On Sunday, the “Karabakh-France” Friendship Circle held a minute of silence at the French square in Stepanakert to commemorate the victims of the Paris attacks.
Ashot Ghoulyan, chairman of the Nagorno-Karabagh Republic (NKR) National Assembly and head of the “Karabagh-France” Friendship Circle, joined NKR Prime Minister Arayik Harutyunyan, members of the NKR Parliament, ministers, representatives of state and public organizations, and hundreds of NKR citizens to lay flowers at the “Eternity” monument in Stepanakert on Sunday. The monument in NKR’s capital symbolizes the friendship between the French and Armenian people.
Ghoulyan also sent a letter of condolence to a member of the Friendship Circle “France-Karabagh,” French MP Francois Rochebloine. “We share the pain of France in these difficult moments and express our solidarity with the relatives of all the victims of the unprecedented terrorism and wish those injured a quick recovery,” read the letter.
Supporters of ISIS and assorted (Sunni) Islamist terrorists:
Throat cutters and cannibals.
Turkey: the #1 villain; what a surprise.
Saudi Arabia: Wahhabist nest of anti-Christian, anti-Western vipers.
Qatar.
US.
UK.
France.
Germany.
Israel (behind the scenes).
Opponents of ISIS and assorted (Sunni) Islamist terrorists:
Heroic fighters against throat cutters and cannibals.
Syrian Arab Republic & Syrian Arab Army (…including many Syrian-Armenian soldiers).
(Shia) Iraq.
(Shia) Islamic Republic of Iran.
Shia and Alawite volunteer anti-terrorist militias.
Russian Federation.
Note: hundreds of Islamist Caucasus Turk (so-called “Azeri”) terrorists have gone to Syria to fight for ISIS.
Many have openly stated they are there to kill Syrian-Armenians.
Know thy enemy and thy friend, Oh Armenian people.
Good points, Avery. That’s about it in a nut shell. I was surprised to find Germany in the group, if true, Germany is perhaps the least vocal of the NWO cheerleaders who always shout slogans such as “Assad is butchering his own people and must step down”. And that insane “I like to have my photo taken with Alqaeda terrorists” McCain repeats that line on a daily basis like a broken record.
That’s indeed a lie that you’re attempting to classify Russia as being an opponent of Islamist terrorists. After all, Russia has been very supportive of the Islamic terrorist state of Azerbaijan by furnishing it with four billion dollars worth of heavy military arms (which is, of course, for the purpose of killing Armenians), as well as never once condemning it for its campaign of terrorism against Armenia.
{Know thy enemy and thy friend, Oh Armenian people.}
Indeed. At a larger scale, NWO globalists are number one enemy. On a regional level, the two known remnants of the nomadic Turkic tribes are. And, on an individual level in these pages, a couple dumb-heads blowing ad nauseum anti-Russian and, thus, covert anti-Armenian, hysteria, are. Some are so hopelessly ignorant, that they don’t even know that the term ‘Islamist’ refers to an Islamic militant, i.e. a fundamentalist advocate of reordering society in accordance with laws prescribed by Islam. If an official religion of a country is Islam, it doesn’t automatically make its citizens ‘Islamists’ and their country ‘Islamic’. To make it easier to understand, AzerBEYjan, the “nation-state” newly formed only in 1918 that stole its name from an ancient Iranian province, is a secular country, while the Islamic Republic of Iran is, obviously, an Islamic country. In many Islamic countries (secular or religious), i.e. countries, where the majority of the population are adherents to Islam, Christian Armenians have always enjoyed great respect and admiration for their diligence and loyalty. Among them, only two Turkic nations—Turkey and Azeristan—have carried out oppression and barbarism towards the Armenians and their ancient civilization.
The United States has been leading the fight against the ISIS for over a year, through relentless bombing and special operations, which are starting to show results (the Paris attacks seem to be a desperate attempt by ISIS to disguise its losses).
Syria’s dictator Assad and his ally Russia, on the other hand, have been tacitly supporting ISIS.
Russia joined the Syria war not to target ISIS but to save Assad (Putin’s fellow thug). Only after the death of 200+ Russian passengers (victims of Putin-the-thug’s adventurism), Russia joined the anti-ISIS campaign.
As for Assad, he breathed life into ISIS (after the U.S. had virtually annihilated the predecessor of ISIS, “Al-Qaeda in Iraq”). Assad deliberately massacred peaceful Sunni demonstrators, while releasing jihadists from prison and letting ISIS thrive, just to portray to the world that his brutal dictatorship was the only alternative to extremists.
Armenians have too often been deceived by opportunists like Assad and Putin. It is time for us to wake up.
“Russians Strike Targets in Syria, but Not ISIS Areas”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/01/world/europe/russia-airstrikes-syria.html
“widespread belief of a secret truce between Mr. Assad and the Islamic State, given credence recently when the group was left off the list of first targets when Russia intervened to shore up Mr. Assad”
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/19/world/middleeast/in-rise-of-isis-no-single-missed-key-but-many-strands-of-blame.html
“Putin Is Rewriting History. There Would Be No ISIS Without Assad.”
“In 2011, as peaceful protests erupted against Assad’s repressive regime, the government released more jihadists from prison.”
“Western officials point to evidence that the Islamic State and the Assad regime have at least tacit cooperation on the battlefield: They rarely attack each other, the regime buys oil from Islamic State territory, and the Islamic State cleared the way for regime forces to capture the city of Aleppo last year.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/putin-assad-isis_560d7db0e4b0dd85030b2368
You would make an excellent personal assistant to Insane “I like to have my photo taken with ISIS terrorists” McCain.
[The CIA is supplying Syrian rebels with weapons to use against Russia]
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-us-is-supplying-syrian-rebels-with-weapons-2015-10
The CIA is supplying “Syrian rebels”, aka throat-cutting cannibal Islamist terrorists, with sophisticate American weapons so the criminal terrorists can defeat the legitimate government of Syria.
So that the cannibals can have a free hand to massacre every last Christian and Alawite in Syria.
Yes: United States of American is in bed with throat-cutting, cannibals of ISIS.
A few observations—least one forget that the Saudis and the Qataris have long supported ISIS and are now strangely quiet. In addition, there is no guarantee that the so-called Syrian “moderate” rebel groups once in power, would not persecute the Christian minority in Syria. We have a President that disrespects the Turkey’s Genocide of Christians by downplaying the events of 1915 and referring to the Genocide as “killings” like it was some kind of a street mugging that went wrong where the victim somehow wound up dead. Let the next Prez worry about this? Is this the price for maintaining our base in Turkey and Turkish support as a member of the Coalition to combat ISIS? The same goes for Hillary, the current Democratic Party’s candidate for the next US President, who as Secretary of State is quoted as saying that the events of 1915 are now debatable?? She also is quoted as saying that the actions of any nation such as the Swedish Parliament at the time, that passes a resolution recognizing the Armenian Genocide, would not be helpful??? The hypocrisy of it all! Sadly, those Turkish Americans that secretly support the actions of their forefathers who did what they had to do to keep their country from splitting apart, secretly live in fear that the Armenian Genocide will be finally recognized for what it truly was and they will lapse into that cartoon character Porky the Pig stutter and become disgruntled. Turkey, a member of NATO? Another misguided result. It is well known that Turkish Intelligence aids and supports ISIS while a member of the so-called Coalition to fight ISIS. The Turks will always do what is best for themselves, history has shown this is always the result, especially when the specter of reparations would bankrupt the country. “Shurla Burla” and to all a good night.
At last week’s G20 meeting in Turkey, while Obama was giving rosy speeches about how wonderful Islam is and must not be blamed for terrorism and therefore, given the circumstance, rear-kissing the Turkish leadership, Putin came out and courageously revealed from inside of Turkey: “Isis is being financed by 40 countries and some are in the G20”!
Now what does this mean? It means he gave the Turks the message, here I am and I am telling to your faces that you are supporters of ISIS, although saying it as diplomatically as he can. And “some” means more than one in the G20, and obviously that means 1. Turkey and 2. Saudi Arabia.
ISIS and NATO-member Turkey in bed together is no longer a secret, therefore ISIS has a relationship with the organization known as NATO. This also means the so called “war on terror” is a fake, since for the past year, NATO policies have actually been aiding ISIS not, hurting it. And now that Russia came in and ruined all their plans for Syria, and all legally, and finally effectively dealing with terrorism in Syria, the NATO/neocon/islamist union is running around like headless chickens and confused with what steps to take next. In the western media, once in a while someone comes along with common sense and reason on Syria, but they are vastly outnumbered by the lunatics running the asylum.
There is something interesting to be observed about some of our compatriots. When the United States bombs targets in the Middle East, many among us loudly call it an aggression, illegal intervention, and reckless endangerment of civilians. When Russia does it, suddenly these same individuals call it heroic. It is not just commentators here, but well-known journalists as well as public figures. What this shows is 1) hypocrisy and 2) extreme pro-Russian, anti-American bias. And we expect the United States to recognize the Genocide? And take a favorable stance with respect to Armenia? Good luck with that.
{…..our compatriots.} ?
Which compatriots ?
Would that be the “lands occupied(sic) by Armenians” compatriots ?
What’s interesting is one here, claiming to be an Armenian, who yells ‘Armenians needs democracy’ day and night, and yet claims the NKR is “occupying Azeri lands”, and rejects the fact that the people of NKR DEMOCRATICALLY chose their future. So if I understand correctly, when it comes to ‘revolution’ for Armenia, we need democracy. But let’s throw democracy out the window when it comes to ‘Azeri interests’, correct?
There is something even more interesting to be observed about some posters.
When United States bombs targets in the Middle East, more often than not it is illegal.
To wit: the criminal, illegal invasion of Iraq by US and UK: done without UNSC authorization. And since Iraq had not attacked either US or UK, no self-defense clause was applicable.
A clear war crime by US and UK, as per the standards of Nuremberg Trials, which US and UK helped formulate.
E.g. Indictment #2: “Planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression and other crimes against peace”
In contrast, Russia bombing ISIS and other terrorist targets in Syria, is legal. It is legal because the legitimate government of Syria officially requested assistance from Russia.
And it is heroic, because saving Syria from foreign supported mass-murdering terrorists is a heroic act.
Saving the Syrian-American community is a heroic act.
Saving Alawites and Sunni Syrians, majority of whom support President Assad, from the knives of ISIS throat-cutters and cannibals, is a heroic act.
And conflating anti-Neocon bias with non-existent anti-American bias amongst Armenian-Americans is the oldest canard.
In fact Neocon filth, which has infested US State Dept, is an anti-American foreign organism, which is using American blood and treasure in support of foreign interests. Foreign interests which are hostile to the American way of life, America’s founding principle, and American People.
Saving the Syrian-Armenian community is a heroic act.
[“When United States bombs targets in the Middle East, more often than not it is illegal. To wit: the criminal, illegal invasion of Iraq by US and UK”]
The invasion of Iraq happened 12 years ago, under a different president. We can talk all we want about the Iraq invasion. We can also talk about Russia’s illegal invasion of Afghanistan. Or about Russian and Azeri troops ethnically cleansing Armenians during the illegal Operation Rign in 1991:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ring
Syria’s butcher Assad is barrel-bombing his people right now. And has been for the past several years, indirectly helping ISIS. And the sole reason Russia joined the Syrian fight was to protect Assad’s criminal regime, not to fight ISIS.
[Syria Dropped ‘Barrel Bombs’ Despite Ban, Report Says]
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/25/world/middleeast/syria-dropped-barrel-bombs-despite-ban-report-says.html
Yet, when the United States (with the support of France) was considering taking measures to stop Assad’s bloody campaign against civilians, some Armenians, including prominent figures, denounced it as yet another American “aggression”:
http://armenianweekly.com/2014/02/26/sassounian-mccain-offends-visiting-syrian-church-leaders/
I suppose when we were begging the world to intervene during our Genocide, it was not an aggression.
[“It is legal because the legitimate government of Syria officially requested assistance from Russia.”]
Yes, just like the ethnic cleansing of Armenians by Soviet-Russian troops was “legal” because, well, it was officially requested by Azerbaijan’s leadership.
A few words about the Iraq invasion, and whether there was any legal justification for it. I am not a fan of George W. Bush. He was incompetent. But let’s not forget who fired the first shot. It was Saddam, himself a mass murderer, who illegally invaded an independent state (Kuwait) in 1990. The Iraq War of 2003 would not have happened without the invasion of Kuwait. After being defeated by the U.S.-led (and fully justified) first Gulf War, Saddam agreed, as a condition of his defeat, to allow unconditional inspections to ensure that he would not have weapons of mass destruction. And then he started playing cute, impeding free inspections, in violation of the very condition of his defeat. Sure, the Bush administration used that as an excuse for the invasion, but had Saddam been fully cooperative (as required), there is a good chance that his country would have been spared the invasion.
And by the way, chemical weapons were indeed discovered in Iraq, and are now being used by ISIS:
[“From 2004 to 2011, American and American-trained Iraqi troops repeatedly encountered, and on at least six occasions were wounded by, chemical weapons remaining from years earlier in Saddam Hussein’s rule.”]
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/14/world/middleeast/us-casualties-of-iraq-chemical-weapons.html
Last but not least: Saddam, a bloody butcher himself, was responsible of probably a million deaths of Muslims (Iranians, Kurds, Kuwaitis, Shia Iraqis). While the Iraq War was poorly planned and executed, it is impossible not to see something positive in the removal of such a mass-murderer:
[“Ten years on from the demise of Saddam Hussein, we’re still discovering mass graves across Iraq. And Iraqis are better off without Saddam Hussein — the overwhelming majority of Iraqis are better off without Saddam Hussein.”]
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/06/10-years-after-the-fall-of-saddam-how-do-iraqis-look-back-on-the-war/277362/
So, labeling the Iraq War as fully illegal myopically ignores key facts.
{The invasion of Iraq happened 12 years ago, under a different president.}
How inventive is our non-Armenian ‘friend’… I mean, in terms of producing gems of logic and historical assessment of events, if I may put so. Turns out, a nation’s historical evolution is not differentiated by various socio-political formations, but by some unknown until now period of the statute of limitations and by the fact which president held power in a country at the time. Exactly what difference does it make that one sovereign country under a different president has invaded the other sovereign country also under a different president? What, at the time of invasion of Iraq the invading country was Saint Vincent and the Grenadines?
{We can also talk about Russia’s illegal invasion of Afghanistan.}
Russia never invaded Afghanistan. A different socio-political formation, called the USSR, did.
{Russian and Azeri troops ethnically cleansing Armenians during the illegal Operation Rign in 1991.}
Russian troops never ethnically cleansed Armenians during the illegal Operation Rign [sic] in 1991, because in 1991 it was the Soviet troops.
{The Iraq War of 2003 would not have happened without the 1990 Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.}
When it comes to the US, it is ‘okay’ to say that the Iraq invasion happened 12 years ago. But it when it comes to digging out a contrived justification for the invasion of the sovereign UN member-state of Iraq, 13 years period that passed from 1990 to 2003 becomes very essential. The two events have absolutely no—even nightmarish—connection, and the fairy tale, which the sheeple was fed at the time about Saddam having weapons of mass destruction, has no single leg to stand on. Have the American troops found any WMD in Iraq in the course of 13 years or they’re still searching for it?
Any cross-border military operation that has no backing of the UN Security Council is illegal. Whoever ignores or downplays this fundamental principle of the international law is himself myopically ignorant.
{Have the American troops found any WMD in Iraq in the course of 13 years or they’re still searching for it?}
Yes they have. It was right there in my post. Clearly your reading comprehension is severely lacking. Try it again:
[“From 2004 to 2011, American and American-trained Iraqi troops repeatedly encountered, and on at least six occasions were wounded by, chemical weapons remaining from years earlier in Saddam Hussein’s rule.”]
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/14/world/middleeast/us-casualties-of-iraq-chemical-weapons.html
{Russia never invaded Afghanistan. A different socio-political formation, called the USSR, did.}
{Russian troops never ethnically cleansed Armenians during the illegal Operation Rign [sic] in 1991, because in 1991 it was the Soviet troops.}
You mean, just like it was the Ottoman Empire that committed the Genocide, not Turkey, right? So, we can absolve Turkey of any responsibility? Nice way to shoot yourself in the foot.
The Soviet Union was widely known as Russia. Modern Russia’s institutions are direct continuation of Soviet institutions, including the KGB, where Putin-the-thug comes from. Speaking of Putin-the-thug: he forces Russian teachers to glorify Stalin in Russian history classes. Russia’s national anthem is the Soviet anthem, with slightly updated lyrics. The Russian officials and soldiers of the Soviet era, including those who ethnically cleansed Armenians in 1991, did not just disappear with the collapse of the Soviet Union. For all intents and purposes, modern Russia is the continuation of the Soviet Union.
{Any cross-border military operation that has no backing of the UN Security Council is illegal.}
You mean like Armenia’s cross-border assistance to Karabakh? Because, you know, that border is internationally recognized. Really, do you even think before you type?