Aleppo and the collapse of a shared future
The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) emerged during the Syrian civil war as a multi-ethnic system of governance, representing Kurds, Arabs, Syriacs, Armenians, Assyrians, Yazidis and others. Its decentralized, gender-inclusive structure rests on local councils. Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh — two Kurdish-majority neighborhoods in Aleppo — were part of the AANES.
In 2022, an ethnic Armenian military commander serving in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), also known as Rojava, traveled with an Armenian fighter to a village near Tal Tamr, near the Turkish border. He had been asked to mediate on behalf of a Kurdish family facing eviction. This mediation — an Armenian commander advocating for a Kurdish family — was emblematic of the kind of cross-ethnic cooperation the AANES institutionalized, not as rhetoric, but as practice.
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The remaining Armenians who have endured 13 years of civil war and are still stuck in Syria, need to flee that country ASAP. The vast majority of the Armenians fled that country for good, either to the West or to Armenia, when the Syrian Civil War started in 2011.
In a Syria run by Islamists and which is effectively a puppet state of Turkey, there is no future for Armenians, as well as for Assyrians, Alawites, Druze, Kurds, Yazidis, secularists and democrats. Apart from jihadi terrorism constantly threatening all these groups, they are additionally targeted by the Islamist Syrian government and its patron Turkey, which is calling the shots. And in this highly problematic country (and region), another bloody and devastating civil war is always a possibility.
The same applies to Iraq, Iran, Lebanon and Turkey, which along with Syria, are the worst possible places for Armenians to live, and Armenians should seek every opportunity to emigrate, rather than constantly live with fear and insecurity.
In fact, before the Syrian Civil War and the US-British invasion of Iraq, Christians used to number around 1.5 million each in both countries, and Yazidis used to number around 500,000 in Iraq. After the imperialist powers meddled and both countries descended to civil war and Islamist terrorism, the Christian population in Syria fell from 1.5 million before 2011 to 300,000 today, the Christian population in Iraq fell from 1.5 million before 2003 to 150,000 today, the Yazidi population in Iraq fell from 500,000 in 2003 to 70,000 today, and the Yazidi population in Syria fell from 50,000 in 2011 to 10,000 today. It has been a constant exodus of non-Muslims from the Middle East, not only the past decades, but the past two centuries.
P.S. Assyrians, Syriacs, Chaldeans or Arameans are different names for the same ethnolinguistic group. They self-identify as either Assyrians, Syriacs, Chaldeans or Arameans for cultural, linguistic, religious, denominational, geographic and historic reasons. Likewise, their language is called Aramaic, Syriac, Chaldean or Assyrian for the abovementioned reasons, and is divided into many dialects. They also adhere to many different Christian denominations: Syriac, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Catholic and Eastern Protestant Christianity, and a minority is Muslim.
Only gullible Armenians would ever trust the West.
If Armenia had a government of patriots instead of traitors, there’d be an open invitation to every Armenian in every part of the World to come home to the Motherland – Hayastan.
Every Jew has the right of return to Israel. Every Armenian must have the same right to Armenia.
Exactly! Instead of encouraging and assisting Armenians from the diaspora, especially those from the Middle East, to immigrate to Armenia, and thus contribute to the country’s development, the traitor Pashinyan is causing Armenian emigration from Armenia, and adding insult to injury, including the refugees from Artsakh, who were thrown under the bus by him and made feel unwelcome and a “burden”!
As the new regime in Syria of which Russia was the first to recognise is more aligned to the USA and Israel it’s obvious that the reasons for the USA supporting a separate entity in Syria has diminshed.
Trusting anyone is gullible any right minded person ought to know that. So whilst Armenia has had let downs from the western nations it’s had let downs and betrayals from Moscow such as signing away western Armenia to Turkey of which it gained little rewards from Turkey actually and assigned Arktash to Azerbaijan and in recent years in trying to woo that country Russia sold many weapons to be used on Armenia and concurred with its on attack Arktash in 2020 and once again interestingly the Turkic peoples have distanced from Russia after having got what they wanted but the shills here obviously aren’t paid to say that i have noticed the absence of dedicated posters Gurgen and Concerned. Also whether Russia learns anything from its duplicity insincerity strategy going far beyond a legitimate balance of interests and ingratiating with the Turkic peoples at Armenians expense actually rewards them and the animosities have allowed Russia to take Armenia for granted.
As for those in Syria if they want to go to Armenia should be welcome. It’s worth noting that when banished the Syrians gave sanctuary.
Chinese Friend, back trolling with your nonsense for the Kremlin just for me?
I guess the realisation for Moscow that the old tricks regarding Armenia which have worked well for decades but no longer effective is rankling rather?
Keep it up as one might end up like Gurgen and Concerned who have been absent for a while now perhaps have been drafted into the war in Ukraine or the pay wasn’t worth them time??
🇦🇲🙏👍👍
One thing we forget, that the Strong Dictates.
trust no one in politics, humanity is at the mercy of murderers in suits, we have to trust the good powers of the universe, and ourselves, our military, our culture, our language, and our divine roots.