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TURKISH FM: TURKEY'S DOORS WIDE OPEN TO KESSAB ARMENIANS
Today's Zaman, Turkey
April 2 2014
2 April 2014, Wednesday /TODAY'S ZAMAN, ANKARA
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said that Turkey's doors are
"wide open" to the largely Armenian residents of the Kessab region of
Syria, which is under threat from clashes between Syrian rebel forces.
Speaking to journalists accompanying his visit to Brussels on Monday,
Davutoglu said a wrong impression had been created that Turkey is
providing help to an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group that is killing
Armenians.
"This is not the case," said Davutoglu. Since the beginning of the
clashes around Kessab, Davutoglu said Turkey has made official
statements and informed the acting Armenian patriarch and other
minority leaders in Turkey, adding that Turkey's doors are wide open
for the Armenians living in Kessab.
He added that Turkey would help anyone fleeing the Syrian war and
will welcome the Armenians without any discrimination, just as it
has been helping hundreds of thousands fleeing from Syria.
Fighters from an array of rebel groups, including the al-Qaeda-linked
al-Nusra Front -- designated as a terrorist group by the US -- seized
control of the town of Kessab on March 16, two days after the rebels
launched an offensive. Most of the Armenian residents of the town,
which is located in northwestern Syria and is administratively a part
of Latakia province, had fled after the attacks began.
The Syrian government, as well as several Armenian websites, claim
the rebels entered Syria from Turkey. In a strongly worded statement
released on March 24, the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA) quoted its chairman, Ken Hachikian, as saying, "The attacks
on the predominantly Armenian-populated village of Kessab over the
weekend represent an attack on all Armenians." ANCA asked the US
Congress and the White House to put pressure on Turkey to end its
alleged support for Syrian rebels.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said on March 26 that the claims of
alleged Turkish support for Syrian opposition forces in Kessab by
allowing them to use Turkish territory or in any other manner are
"entirely baseless."
Armenian sisters from Kessab come to Turkey
Three residents of the largely Armenian town of Kessab came to Turkey
on Monday, the Turkish press reported.
According to reports, the two Armenian sisters, Satenik (82) and
Surpuhi (80) Titizyan, along with a Turkish-speaking woman called
İsman Hizar (90), all Kessab residents, arrived in Yayladagı, a
district in Hatay province, after being escorted by Syrian rebels to
the Turkish-Syrian border. Hizar said she is originally from Aleppo and
wanted to go there to be with her son. The three women were welcomed
by the district governor, Turan Yılmaz, and after being offered food,
the women called their relatives in Turkey.
Hizar said she had lived in Kessab for 30 years and that she had not
been aware of the clashes until some Syrian rebels came to her house
and offered to help her leave the region. Hizar also said the two
Armenian sisters were from a village called Karaduran and that they
too had not been aware of the clashes until the rebels came to their
town. The sisters asked the rebels to allow them to go to Turkey to
be with their relatives, and the rebels then escorted them to the
border, reports said. Hizar said they are all thankful for Turkey's
hospitality.
Kardashian tweets about Kessab
Popular American TV personality Kim Kardashian has called on her
fans to save Kessab, saying in a Twitter message, "If you don't know
what's going on in Kessab please Google it...As an Armenian, I grew up
hearing so many painful stories," on March 30. In another tweet, she
said: "Please let's not let history repeat itself!!!!!!Let's get this
trending!!!!" with the hashtags "Save Kessab" and "Armenian genocide,"
suggesting that she is linking the flight of Kessab residents to the
deaths of Armenians in 1915 under the Ottoman Empire.
Ankara denies claims that the events of 1915 amounted to genocide,
arguing that both Turks and Armenians were killed when Armenians
revolted against the Ottoman Empire during World War I in collaboration
with the Russian army, which was then invading Eastern Anatolia.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-343660-turkish-fm-turkeys-doors-wide-open-to-kessab-armenians.html
Today's Zaman, Turkey
April 2 2014
2 April 2014, Wednesday /TODAY'S ZAMAN, ANKARA
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said that Turkey's doors are
"wide open" to the largely Armenian residents of the Kessab region of
Syria, which is under threat from clashes between Syrian rebel forces.
Speaking to journalists accompanying his visit to Brussels on Monday,
Davutoglu said a wrong impression had been created that Turkey is
providing help to an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group that is killing
Armenians.
"This is not the case," said Davutoglu. Since the beginning of the
clashes around Kessab, Davutoglu said Turkey has made official
statements and informed the acting Armenian patriarch and other
minority leaders in Turkey, adding that Turkey's doors are wide open
for the Armenians living in Kessab.
He added that Turkey would help anyone fleeing the Syrian war and
will welcome the Armenians without any discrimination, just as it
has been helping hundreds of thousands fleeing from Syria.
Fighters from an array of rebel groups, including the al-Qaeda-linked
al-Nusra Front -- designated as a terrorist group by the US -- seized
control of the town of Kessab on March 16, two days after the rebels
launched an offensive. Most of the Armenian residents of the town,
which is located in northwestern Syria and is administratively a part
of Latakia province, had fled after the attacks began.
The Syrian government, as well as several Armenian websites, claim
the rebels entered Syria from Turkey. In a strongly worded statement
released on March 24, the Armenian National Committee of America
(ANCA) quoted its chairman, Ken Hachikian, as saying, "The attacks
on the predominantly Armenian-populated village of Kessab over the
weekend represent an attack on all Armenians." ANCA asked the US
Congress and the White House to put pressure on Turkey to end its
alleged support for Syrian rebels.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry said on March 26 that the claims of
alleged Turkish support for Syrian opposition forces in Kessab by
allowing them to use Turkish territory or in any other manner are
"entirely baseless."
Armenian sisters from Kessab come to Turkey
Three residents of the largely Armenian town of Kessab came to Turkey
on Monday, the Turkish press reported.
According to reports, the two Armenian sisters, Satenik (82) and
Surpuhi (80) Titizyan, along with a Turkish-speaking woman called
İsman Hizar (90), all Kessab residents, arrived in Yayladagı, a
district in Hatay province, after being escorted by Syrian rebels to
the Turkish-Syrian border. Hizar said she is originally from Aleppo and
wanted to go there to be with her son. The three women were welcomed
by the district governor, Turan Yılmaz, and after being offered food,
the women called their relatives in Turkey.
Hizar said she had lived in Kessab for 30 years and that she had not
been aware of the clashes until some Syrian rebels came to her house
and offered to help her leave the region. Hizar also said the two
Armenian sisters were from a village called Karaduran and that they
too had not been aware of the clashes until the rebels came to their
town. The sisters asked the rebels to allow them to go to Turkey to
be with their relatives, and the rebels then escorted them to the
border, reports said. Hizar said they are all thankful for Turkey's
hospitality.
Kardashian tweets about Kessab
Popular American TV personality Kim Kardashian has called on her
fans to save Kessab, saying in a Twitter message, "If you don't know
what's going on in Kessab please Google it...As an Armenian, I grew up
hearing so many painful stories," on March 30. In another tweet, she
said: "Please let's not let history repeat itself!!!!!!Let's get this
trending!!!!" with the hashtags "Save Kessab" and "Armenian genocide,"
suggesting that she is linking the flight of Kessab residents to the
deaths of Armenians in 1915 under the Ottoman Empire.
Ankara denies claims that the events of 1915 amounted to genocide,
arguing that both Turks and Armenians were killed when Armenians
revolted against the Ottoman Empire during World War I in collaboration
with the Russian army, which was then invading Eastern Anatolia.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-343660-turkish-fm-turkeys-doors-wide-open-to-kessab-armenians.html