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ARMENIANS MOURN REBEL TAKEOVER OF KASAB IN SYRIA
The Daily Star, Lebanon
April 3 2014
April 03, 2014 12:22 AMBy Justin Salhani
The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Seated outside the clothes shop in Burj Hammoud where he
works, Syrian-Armenian Ararad Mahdesian gazes into the distance,
reminiscing about the place he still calls home.
"I had beautiful days in Kasab. I was born there and I am from there,"
the 25-year-old says solemnly, referring to a town in northwest
Syria that was overrun by rebels less than two weeks ago while he
wasn't there.
Located on the border with Turkey, Kasab is a historical town
with an ethnic Armenian population that dates back to the medieval
Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. Until the civil war, Kasab was a tourist
destination mostly inhabited by farmers.
Now, like so many places in Syria, it has all changed.
Mahdesian says his 65-year-old father was one of the last people to
leave Kasab, and that his relatives are now in Latakia with around
600 other families who all fled due to the rebel attack.
According to Mahdesian, who left a month ago for economic reasons,
about 20 people remain unaccounted for and are thought to still be
in town.
The effects of the town's seizure has been heavily felt in Lebanon's
bustling Burj Hammoud, a sprawling suburb northeast of Beirut that
was founded by survivors of the 1915 Armenian Genocide and is the
hub for the 200,000 or so members of the Lebanese-Armenian community.
On Tuesday afternoon, shops in Burj Hammoud shut for two hours in
solidarity with the besieged town.
"We closed for two hours, and we are united with them," said Toros
Papazian, a security guard at Mesrobian School of Armenian Catholics
in Burj Hammoud. "Our hearts are with Syrian-Armenians."
Kasab is now thought to be entirely vacant of the Armenian community
that has inhabited the area for centuries and endured prior tragedies
including the 1909 Adana Massacre and the genocide six years later.
There are no official figures on how many residents of Kasab have
taken refuge in Lebanon, but sources estimated that less than 100
have settled here, primarily in Burj Hammoud or Anjar, a town in the
Bekaa Valley with a large Lebanese-Armenian population.
"Of course it sent shockwaves through the Armenian diaspora," said
Vahram Emiyan, the international news editor at Armenian language-daily
Aztag, based in Burj Hammoud. "This region is part of the historic
[Armenian Kingdom of] Cilicia, and Armenians have lived there since
the middle ages."
Emiyan added, "The forced deportation brings back very terrible
memories from the Armenian genocide."
"Kasab had a specific Armenian culture with their own dialect, their
own books, vocabulary and traditions," said Father Vartan Kazanjian
of the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate in Beirut, who lived in Syria
for two brief stints in the '90s. "For us, Kasab was the last town
left from the Armenian lands."
"It used to be a secure area," said Aram Seraydarian, a shop owner
in Burj Hammoud. "We are scared, not just for Armenians but for all
Christians in the East."
Kazanjian visited the displaced Syrian-Armenian community in Latakia
last Saturday.
"It was very hard to see these people after they left their houses
and land behind," he said.
Kazanjian said that more than 300 people were holed up in a church
in Latakia and were short on basic necessities. He added that the
situation was made more difficult to bear considering it fell just
a year shy of the 100-year commemoration of the genocide.
Kazanjian said one displaced gentleman he spoke to in Latakia broke
into tears mid-conversation.
"I told him not to worry and that hopefully he will be able to return
home soon," Kazanjian said, to which the man replied, "I may not see
that day."
Another man Kazanjian met had been displaced twice after fleeing
having previously fled from Raqqa to Kasab.
"It's very hard to see these people suffering," Kazanjian said.
While the Lebanese-Armenian community has shown sorrow for the plight
of their partners in the diaspora, critics have accused them of only
showing compassion when fellow Armenians are involved.
"I'm not saying Armenians are others; a human is a human and a person
is a person," said Kazanjian. "I don't want any person to be killed,
but we have a cultural and historical connection to Kasab."
For Syrian-Armenians like Mahdesian, however, the situation is
clearly personal.
"For the last week I haven't slept well," he says somberly. "When I
close my eyes, I see my village and how I lost everything.
"I don't care about clothes or shoes, but I care about the memories.
Everything is gone."
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Apr-03/252133-armenians-mourn-rebel-takeover-of-kasab-in-syria.ashx#axzz2x18RFmMT
From: A. Papazian
The Daily Star, Lebanon
April 3 2014
April 03, 2014 12:22 AMBy Justin Salhani
The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Seated outside the clothes shop in Burj Hammoud where he
works, Syrian-Armenian Ararad Mahdesian gazes into the distance,
reminiscing about the place he still calls home.
"I had beautiful days in Kasab. I was born there and I am from there,"
the 25-year-old says solemnly, referring to a town in northwest
Syria that was overrun by rebels less than two weeks ago while he
wasn't there.
Located on the border with Turkey, Kasab is a historical town
with an ethnic Armenian population that dates back to the medieval
Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia. Until the civil war, Kasab was a tourist
destination mostly inhabited by farmers.
Now, like so many places in Syria, it has all changed.
Mahdesian says his 65-year-old father was one of the last people to
leave Kasab, and that his relatives are now in Latakia with around
600 other families who all fled due to the rebel attack.
According to Mahdesian, who left a month ago for economic reasons,
about 20 people remain unaccounted for and are thought to still be
in town.
The effects of the town's seizure has been heavily felt in Lebanon's
bustling Burj Hammoud, a sprawling suburb northeast of Beirut that
was founded by survivors of the 1915 Armenian Genocide and is the
hub for the 200,000 or so members of the Lebanese-Armenian community.
On Tuesday afternoon, shops in Burj Hammoud shut for two hours in
solidarity with the besieged town.
"We closed for two hours, and we are united with them," said Toros
Papazian, a security guard at Mesrobian School of Armenian Catholics
in Burj Hammoud. "Our hearts are with Syrian-Armenians."
Kasab is now thought to be entirely vacant of the Armenian community
that has inhabited the area for centuries and endured prior tragedies
including the 1909 Adana Massacre and the genocide six years later.
There are no official figures on how many residents of Kasab have
taken refuge in Lebanon, but sources estimated that less than 100
have settled here, primarily in Burj Hammoud or Anjar, a town in the
Bekaa Valley with a large Lebanese-Armenian population.
"Of course it sent shockwaves through the Armenian diaspora," said
Vahram Emiyan, the international news editor at Armenian language-daily
Aztag, based in Burj Hammoud. "This region is part of the historic
[Armenian Kingdom of] Cilicia, and Armenians have lived there since
the middle ages."
Emiyan added, "The forced deportation brings back very terrible
memories from the Armenian genocide."
"Kasab had a specific Armenian culture with their own dialect, their
own books, vocabulary and traditions," said Father Vartan Kazanjian
of the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate in Beirut, who lived in Syria
for two brief stints in the '90s. "For us, Kasab was the last town
left from the Armenian lands."
"It used to be a secure area," said Aram Seraydarian, a shop owner
in Burj Hammoud. "We are scared, not just for Armenians but for all
Christians in the East."
Kazanjian visited the displaced Syrian-Armenian community in Latakia
last Saturday.
"It was very hard to see these people after they left their houses
and land behind," he said.
Kazanjian said that more than 300 people were holed up in a church
in Latakia and were short on basic necessities. He added that the
situation was made more difficult to bear considering it fell just
a year shy of the 100-year commemoration of the genocide.
Kazanjian said one displaced gentleman he spoke to in Latakia broke
into tears mid-conversation.
"I told him not to worry and that hopefully he will be able to return
home soon," Kazanjian said, to which the man replied, "I may not see
that day."
Another man Kazanjian met had been displaced twice after fleeing
having previously fled from Raqqa to Kasab.
"It's very hard to see these people suffering," Kazanjian said.
While the Lebanese-Armenian community has shown sorrow for the plight
of their partners in the diaspora, critics have accused them of only
showing compassion when fellow Armenians are involved.
"I'm not saying Armenians are others; a human is a human and a person
is a person," said Kazanjian. "I don't want any person to be killed,
but we have a cultural and historical connection to Kasab."
For Syrian-Armenians like Mahdesian, however, the situation is
clearly personal.
"For the last week I haven't slept well," he says somberly. "When I
close my eyes, I see my village and how I lost everything.
"I don't care about clothes or shoes, but I care about the memories.
Everything is gone."
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2014/Apr-03/252133-armenians-mourn-rebel-takeover-of-kasab-in-syria.ashx#axzz2x18RFmMT
From: A. Papazian