Following the other day’s news that two Armenian families in Syria had been compelled to convert to Islam at the hands of the terrorist organization, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)—which, nonetheless, claimed that the conversions were done “willingly”—new information has emerged concerning the recent killing of a young Armenian man, Minas, for refusing to convert to Islam, again at the hands of ISIL.
He was reportedly killed in one of ISIL’s dungeons in Aleppo, north Syria, which has a notable Armenian minority.
According to iNews, “Minas and his father were held in ISIL’s prison for 115 days, according to one activist, and his accusation was that he refused to submit [to Islam, i.e., convert].”
iNews adds that activists from the region sent the above picture, saying it is of the slain Minas. Other activists confirm that the picture is of a slain Armenian in Syria, but not of Minas. In any case, the man appears to be wearing the garments of the Armenian Evangelical Church of Aleppo.
The same report mentions other Christian Armenians killed, including one who reportedly had “his head chopped off and placed in a biscuit box.”




Raymond Ibrahim is a Middle East and Islam specialist and author of Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians (2013) and The Al Qaeda Reader (2007). His writings have appeared in a variety of media, including the Los Angeles Times, Washington Times, Jane’s Islamic Affairs Analyst, Middle East Quarterly, World Almanac of Islamism, and Chronicle of Higher Education; he has appeared on MSNBC, Fox News, C-SPAN, PBS, Reuters, Al-Jazeera, NPR, Blaze TV, and CBN. Ibrahim regularly speaks publicly, briefs governmental agencies, provides expert testimony for Islam-related lawsuits, and testifies before Congress. He is a Shillman Fellow, David Horowitz Freedom Center; a CBN News contributor; a Media Fellow, Hoover Institution (2013); and a Judith Friedman Rosen Writing Fellow, Middle East Forum . Ibrahim’s dual-background -- born and raised in the U.S. by Coptic Egyptian parents born and raised in the Middle East -- has provided him with unique advantages, from equal fluency in English and Arabic, to an equal understanding of the Western and Middle Eastern mindsets, positioning him to explain the latter to the former.