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TURKISH INTELLECTUALS CONDEMN ONGOING EVENTS IN KESSAB
10:36, 26 March, 2014
YEREVAN, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS. The attacks against the
Armenian-populated Kessab and Turkey's support to the terrorists
angered some Turkish intellectuals. As reports "Armenpress" citing
Turkish Demokrathaber.net, on this occasion prominent Turkish publisher
and author Ragip Zarakolu and publicist Sait Cetinoglu voiced about
their concerns.
"Al-Qaeda's group easily crossed the border with Antakya and attacked
the magnificent region of Kessab, situated right on the opposite side
of the border. Among the other peculiarities of Kessab is that it is
an Armenian-populated town. But now Kessab is totally empty. The local
population has again had to migrate after 1915 and then 1939. They
currently settled in Latakia," Ragip Zarakolu underscored.
Another Turkish intellectual Sait Cetinoglu stated that the houses
of the Armenians are being robbed. Among other things Sait Cetinoglu
emphasized: "I have friends in Kessab. Historian Hakob Cholakian from
Musa Dagh also lives in Kessab. I am concerned with the situation my
friends appeared in. Kessab was a real paradise on earth. What a pity
that nothing will be left from that beauty. There are testimonies
saying that the looting is coordinated from Turkey."
The armed incursion began on Friday, March 21, with rebels associated
with Al-Qaeda's al-Nusra Front, Sham al-Islam and Ansar al-Sham
crossing the Turkish border and attacking the Armenian civilian
population of Kessab. The attackers immediately seized two guard posts
overlooking Kessab, including a strategic hill known as Observatory
45 and later took over the border crossing point with Turkey. Snipers
targeted the civilian population and launched mortar attacks on the
town and the surrounding villages.
According to eyewitness accounts, the attackers crossed the Turkish
border with Syria openly passing through Turkish military barracks.
According to Turkish media reports, the attackers carried their
injured back to Turkey for treatment in the town of Yayladagi.
Some 670 Armenian families, the majority of the population of Kessab,
were evacuated by the local Armenian community leadership to safer
areas in neighboring Basit and Latakia. Ten to fifteen families with
relations too elderly to move were either unable to leave or chose
to stay in their homes.
On Saturday, March 22, Syrian troops launched a counteroffensive in an
attempt to regain the border crossing point, eye-witnesses and state
media reported. However, on Sunday, March 23, the extremist groups once
again entered the town of Kessab, took the remaining Armenian families
hostage, desecrated the town's three Armenian churches, pillaging
local residences and occupying the town and surrounding villages.
Located in the northwestern corner of Syria, near the border with
Turkey, Kessab had, until very recently, evaded major battles in
the Syrian conflict. The local Armenian population had increased in
recent years with the city serving as safe-haven for those fleeing
from the war-torn cities of Yacubiye, Rakka and Aleppo.
http://armenpress.am/eng/news/755363/turkish-intellectuals-condemn-ongoing-events-in-kessab.html
10:36, 26 March, 2014
YEREVAN, MARCH 26, ARMENPRESS. The attacks against the
Armenian-populated Kessab and Turkey's support to the terrorists
angered some Turkish intellectuals. As reports "Armenpress" citing
Turkish Demokrathaber.net, on this occasion prominent Turkish publisher
and author Ragip Zarakolu and publicist Sait Cetinoglu voiced about
their concerns.
"Al-Qaeda's group easily crossed the border with Antakya and attacked
the magnificent region of Kessab, situated right on the opposite side
of the border. Among the other peculiarities of Kessab is that it is
an Armenian-populated town. But now Kessab is totally empty. The local
population has again had to migrate after 1915 and then 1939. They
currently settled in Latakia," Ragip Zarakolu underscored.
Another Turkish intellectual Sait Cetinoglu stated that the houses
of the Armenians are being robbed. Among other things Sait Cetinoglu
emphasized: "I have friends in Kessab. Historian Hakob Cholakian from
Musa Dagh also lives in Kessab. I am concerned with the situation my
friends appeared in. Kessab was a real paradise on earth. What a pity
that nothing will be left from that beauty. There are testimonies
saying that the looting is coordinated from Turkey."
The armed incursion began on Friday, March 21, with rebels associated
with Al-Qaeda's al-Nusra Front, Sham al-Islam and Ansar al-Sham
crossing the Turkish border and attacking the Armenian civilian
population of Kessab. The attackers immediately seized two guard posts
overlooking Kessab, including a strategic hill known as Observatory
45 and later took over the border crossing point with Turkey. Snipers
targeted the civilian population and launched mortar attacks on the
town and the surrounding villages.
According to eyewitness accounts, the attackers crossed the Turkish
border with Syria openly passing through Turkish military barracks.
According to Turkish media reports, the attackers carried their
injured back to Turkey for treatment in the town of Yayladagi.
Some 670 Armenian families, the majority of the population of Kessab,
were evacuated by the local Armenian community leadership to safer
areas in neighboring Basit and Latakia. Ten to fifteen families with
relations too elderly to move were either unable to leave or chose
to stay in their homes.
On Saturday, March 22, Syrian troops launched a counteroffensive in an
attempt to regain the border crossing point, eye-witnesses and state
media reported. However, on Sunday, March 23, the extremist groups once
again entered the town of Kessab, took the remaining Armenian families
hostage, desecrated the town's three Armenian churches, pillaging
local residences and occupying the town and surrounding villages.
Located in the northwestern corner of Syria, near the border with
Turkey, Kessab had, until very recently, evaded major battles in
the Syrian conflict. The local Armenian population had increased in
recent years with the city serving as safe-haven for those fleeing
from the war-torn cities of Yacubiye, Rakka and Aleppo.
http://armenpress.am/eng/news/755363/turkish-intellectuals-condemn-ongoing-events-in-kessab.html