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EU AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA REGARDS UNACCEPTABLE ATTACKS AGAINST ARMENIANS IN KESAB
YEREVAN, MARCH 27, ARMENPRESS: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
the Republic of Armenia informed the European Union about the events
ongoing in town-village Kesab of Syria around which the EU will express
an official viewpoint. The Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia,
Ambassador Traian Hristea stated this in a conversation with the
journalists. "We have already conveyed our message to Brussels and
will follow up on how they will react on this issue. But our message
is one- attacks against Armenian citizens in Kesab are unacceptable,"
Traian Hristea said as reported by Armenpress.
A group of deputies of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia
- Samvel Farmanyan, Arman Sahakyan, Naira Karapetyan, Tevan Poghosyan,
Edmon Marukyan and Levon Martirosyan - have left for Syria. The
deputies were to get acquainted with the problems and the conditions
of our compatriots in Syria in place. They will present information
on the current state of Kesab upon arrival.
Earlier it was reported that the Catholicos of the Great House of
Cilicia Aram I contacted the presidential palace of Syria appealing to
send army to Kesab to provide for the security of the local population.
In his turn the Syria's ambassador to Lebanon visited Catholicos
Aram I in Antelias on March 22, conveying to him Syrian president
Bashar al-Assad's assurances that peace will be restored in Kesab. The
Catholicos welcomed the Syrian President's initiative and noted for his
part that Kesab has a symbolic significance for the Armenian people.
According to the Armenian Weekly, the armed incursion began on Friday,
March 21, 2014 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 Kesab. The attackers
immediately seized two guard posts overlooking Kesab, 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.
More than 700 Armenian families, the majority of the population of
Kesab, 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
choseto 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 Kesab,
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, Kesab had, until very recently
evaded major battles in the Syrian conflict. The local Armenian
population had increased in recently 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/755692/eu-ambassador-to-armenia-regards-unacceptable-attacks-against-armenians-in-kesab.html
From: Baghdasarian
YEREVAN, MARCH 27, ARMENPRESS: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
the Republic of Armenia informed the European Union about the events
ongoing in town-village Kesab of Syria around which the EU will express
an official viewpoint. The Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia,
Ambassador Traian Hristea stated this in a conversation with the
journalists. "We have already conveyed our message to Brussels and
will follow up on how they will react on this issue. But our message
is one- attacks against Armenian citizens in Kesab are unacceptable,"
Traian Hristea said as reported by Armenpress.
A group of deputies of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia
- Samvel Farmanyan, Arman Sahakyan, Naira Karapetyan, Tevan Poghosyan,
Edmon Marukyan and Levon Martirosyan - have left for Syria. The
deputies were to get acquainted with the problems and the conditions
of our compatriots in Syria in place. They will present information
on the current state of Kesab upon arrival.
Earlier it was reported that the Catholicos of the Great House of
Cilicia Aram I contacted the presidential palace of Syria appealing to
send army to Kesab to provide for the security of the local population.
In his turn the Syria's ambassador to Lebanon visited Catholicos
Aram I in Antelias on March 22, conveying to him Syrian president
Bashar al-Assad's assurances that peace will be restored in Kesab. The
Catholicos welcomed the Syrian President's initiative and noted for his
part that Kesab has a symbolic significance for the Armenian people.
According to the Armenian Weekly, the armed incursion began on Friday,
March 21, 2014 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 Kesab. The attackers
immediately seized two guard posts overlooking Kesab, 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.
More than 700 Armenian families, the majority of the population of
Kesab, 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
choseto 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 Kesab,
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, Kesab had, until very recently
evaded major battles in the Syrian conflict. The local Armenian
population had increased in recently 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/755692/eu-ambassador-to-armenia-regards-unacceptable-attacks-against-armenians-in-kesab.html
From: Baghdasarian