News spread across the media on November 11th that two Armenian priests were killed in Syria. Armed groups opened fire on a vehicle on the route between Qamishli and Deir ez-Zor, which resulted in the murder of the head of the Catholic Church in Qamishli, priest Housib Bidoyan, and his father, priest Abraham. “No one has claimed responsibility for this yet, but the passport photo of one of the murdered priests has circulated on social media,” Turkish and Kurdish affairs expert Karen Hovhannisyan told Aravot Daily in an interview. Regarding information that the Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the murders, Karen Hovhannisyan emphasized, “The Turkish side is spreading the news of ISIS’s responsibility, as well as groups that are supported by ISIS. Now all sides are trying to use this incident against each other because it will receive a lot of attention from the international community. The Armenian church in Tell Abyad has been undergoing restoration in the aftermath of this incident on behalf of the Free Syrian Army.”
The Armenian church had been vandalized by Turks and Turkish supporters who are controlling the city. “The Free Syrian Army announced that their supporters did not kill the Armenian priests, which leaves us to assume it was carried out by the Islamic State. Unknown armed groups have been spreading the ID of one of the priests.”
Luiza Sukiasyan
