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LAWMAKERS, ARMENIANS URGE U.S. TO INVESTIGATE ATTACK ON SYRIAN CITY
Los Angeles Times
April 8 2014
By Richard Simon
April 8, 2014, 6:36 p.m.
WASHINGTON - For Rep. Anna G. Eshoo, the attack on a Syrian town
that is home to descendants of the Armenian genocide was a painful
reminder of the past.
"I can't help but think, 'Here we are again,'" said Eshoo, whose
grandparents survived the early 20th century genocide. "It's like
ripping a scab off of a wound.... History is repeating itself."
Eshoo, a Democrat from Menlo Park, joined other California
representatives -- including some with large Armenian American
constituencies -- to call attention to the rebel assault last month
on the northern Syrian town of Kasab near the Turkish border and to
press for humanitarian aid to the victims and an investigation into
Turkey's role in the strike.
Syrian rebels, including some linked to Al Qaeda, crossed into
Syria from Turkey on March 21, attacking the home to about 2,500
Armenian Christians and forcing many to flee. A week later, hundreds
of protesters gathered outside the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles,
accusing Turkey, which has called for Syrian President Bashar Assad's
ouster, of helping facilitate the attack.
Representatives of the Armenian National Committee of America, who
joined several lawmakers at a Capitol Hill news conference Tuesday,
called for, among other things, the U.S. to investigate Turkey's
assistance to the rebels, facilitate the return of Syrian Armenians
back to their homes, and provide at least $3.5 million in humanitarian
assistance for displaced civilians from Kasab.
There was no immediate response from the Turkish Embassy in Washington.
Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank) and Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford)
recently joined Reps. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) and Michael G. Grimm
(R-N.Y.), co-chairmen of the Congressional Armenia Caucus, in a
letter to President Obama calling the attack "far too reminiscent"
of the early days of the Armenian genocide.
An estimated 1.2 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks as
the empire was dissolving during World War I.
Resolutions have been repeatedly introduced in Congress over the years
to recognize the mass killings between 1915 and 1918 as genocide. But
the measures have run into resistance amid fears they would damage
U.S. relations with Turkey, an important ally. Though historians have
concluded the killings were genocide, Turkey has contended that the
deaths were due to war, famine and disease.
"The United States cannot sit by idly while these extremists target
civilians and force more than 2,000 in this instance to flee their
homes," said Rep. Jim Costa (D-Fresno). Also attending the news
conference were Reps. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), Judy Chu
(D-Monterey Park), Schiff and Pallone.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-kasab-armenia-california-20140408,0,2030463.story#axzz2yPsRNjE2
Los Angeles Times
April 8 2014
By Richard Simon
April 8, 2014, 6:36 p.m.
WASHINGTON - For Rep. Anna G. Eshoo, the attack on a Syrian town
that is home to descendants of the Armenian genocide was a painful
reminder of the past.
"I can't help but think, 'Here we are again,'" said Eshoo, whose
grandparents survived the early 20th century genocide. "It's like
ripping a scab off of a wound.... History is repeating itself."
Eshoo, a Democrat from Menlo Park, joined other California
representatives -- including some with large Armenian American
constituencies -- to call attention to the rebel assault last month
on the northern Syrian town of Kasab near the Turkish border and to
press for humanitarian aid to the victims and an investigation into
Turkey's role in the strike.
Syrian rebels, including some linked to Al Qaeda, crossed into
Syria from Turkey on March 21, attacking the home to about 2,500
Armenian Christians and forcing many to flee. A week later, hundreds
of protesters gathered outside the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles,
accusing Turkey, which has called for Syrian President Bashar Assad's
ouster, of helping facilitate the attack.
Representatives of the Armenian National Committee of America, who
joined several lawmakers at a Capitol Hill news conference Tuesday,
called for, among other things, the U.S. to investigate Turkey's
assistance to the rebels, facilitate the return of Syrian Armenians
back to their homes, and provide at least $3.5 million in humanitarian
assistance for displaced civilians from Kasab.
There was no immediate response from the Turkish Embassy in Washington.
Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank) and Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford)
recently joined Reps. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) and Michael G. Grimm
(R-N.Y.), co-chairmen of the Congressional Armenia Caucus, in a
letter to President Obama calling the attack "far too reminiscent"
of the early days of the Armenian genocide.
An estimated 1.2 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks as
the empire was dissolving during World War I.
Resolutions have been repeatedly introduced in Congress over the years
to recognize the mass killings between 1915 and 1918 as genocide. But
the measures have run into resistance amid fears they would damage
U.S. relations with Turkey, an important ally. Though historians have
concluded the killings were genocide, Turkey has contended that the
deaths were due to war, famine and disease.
"The United States cannot sit by idly while these extremists target
civilians and force more than 2,000 in this instance to flee their
homes," said Rep. Jim Costa (D-Fresno). Also attending the news
conference were Reps. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), Judy Chu
(D-Monterey Park), Schiff and Pallone.
http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-kasab-armenia-california-20140408,0,2030463.story#axzz2yPsRNjE2