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TURKEY BLAMED IN ATTACK ON SYRIAN ARMENIAN VILLAGE
EurasiaNet.org
March 28 2014
March 28, 2014 - 8:01am, by Joshua Kucera
The ethnic Armenian village of Kesab in 2010. (photo: Wikimedia
Commons)
An attack by Syrian rebels on an ethnic Armenian town has raised
questions about Turkey's role in supporting the opposition and
prompted claims by many Armenians that the attack was orchestrated
by the Turkish government as an attack on Armenians.
The town, Kesab, is in Syria's far northwestern corner, on the border
with Turkey and on the Mediterranean coast. It has been Armenian for
centuries, unlike most of the Armenian communities in Syria which
were settled by refugees from the 1915 genocide in Turkey.
Last week, Syrian rebels attacked Kesab, "part of an offensive aimed
at opening up a rebel link to the sea," Reuters reported. And Syria's
government blamed Turkey: "Syrian authorities accused Turkey of helping
the fighters launch their attack on Kasab from Turkish territory,
saying Ankara's army 'provided cover for this terrorist attack'
on the wooded and hilly border region."
And a number of Armenian sources took that accusation further,
and said that it was a deliberate Turkish attack on Armenians. The
Armenian website Mediamax posted an interview with Mudar Barakat,
a pro-government Syria commentator, in which he said that Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan arranged the attack as part of
his campaign for Turkey's upcoming elections. "Erdogan is targeting
Kassab's symbolic importance as a peaceful Syrian cradle for the
Armenian families who survived the massacres enforced by his Ottoman
predecessors and it seems that this attack on Kassab is a reflection
of Erdogan's anger towards Armenia's stand against his terrorism
in Syria, and a reminder of the 1915 massacres and the historical
Turkish animosity towards the Armenians."
The Washington-based Armenian National Committee of America posted
an alert blaming Turkey for the attack on Kesab: "[T]he onslaught on
Kessab was launched from Turkey by foreign fighters affiliated with
an extremist wing of the al-Qaeda terrorist group. Attackers wounded
during fighting were returned to Turkey for medical treatment." And
Public Radio of Armenia published an appeal, purportedly from the
"Armenians of Kesab", saying: "This is a call to all Armenians. This
is a call to humanity. The world needs to hear the truth. Erdogan
and his government are war criminals."
For its part, Turkey has denied the allegations. In a March 26
statement, the Foreign Ministry said:
The allegations by some circles that Turkey is providing support to
the opposition forces by letting them use its territory or through
some other ways during the conflict which have intensified recently
in the Latakia/Kesab region are totally unfounded and untrue.
We consider the efforts of such circles, moving from these claims,
to draw an analogy between the developments in the Kesab region and
the painful incidents of the past as a confrontational political
propaganda attempt and particularly condemn it....
In accordance with its humanitarian and conscientious responsibility,
Turkey notified the relevant UN bodies that Syrian Armenians residing
in Kesep region could be admitted in Turkey too and protection could be
provided to them. Also, the representatives of the Armenian community
were informed of the matter through official channels.
Contacts on this issue are underway. Necessary steps will be taken
to meet the needs of Syrian Armenians as is the case for all other
Syrians.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has addressed the attack, thanking
the Syrian government for its part in protecting Kesab's Armenians
but not mentioning Turkey. He did, though, mention Kesab's history,
including its suffering in the 1915 genocide. "I think that everyone
should realize that these parallels should sober all the sides,"
he said.
The attack had little to do with Kesab's Armenian heritage and
more to do with its strategic location, said Emil Sanamyan, the
Washington-based editor of the newspaper Armenian Reporter. But it
was predictable for Armenians to see it through the lens of their
own experiences, he told The Bug Pit. "Now it would of course be
desirable for the Turkish government to have the necessary sensitivity
to this subjective reality and give Syrian Armenians some kind special
treatment, but it appears demands of military necessity have overruled
that and the attack on Kessab was staged as a diversionary move to
relieve rebels that have been hammered by Assad's forces along the
Damascus-Latakia corridor," he said. "That is of course of little
relevance to most if not all Armenians and they will perceive it
through the subjective lenses, just like everyone else does."
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/68204
EurasiaNet.org
March 28 2014
March 28, 2014 - 8:01am, by Joshua Kucera
The ethnic Armenian village of Kesab in 2010. (photo: Wikimedia
Commons)
An attack by Syrian rebels on an ethnic Armenian town has raised
questions about Turkey's role in supporting the opposition and
prompted claims by many Armenians that the attack was orchestrated
by the Turkish government as an attack on Armenians.
The town, Kesab, is in Syria's far northwestern corner, on the border
with Turkey and on the Mediterranean coast. It has been Armenian for
centuries, unlike most of the Armenian communities in Syria which
were settled by refugees from the 1915 genocide in Turkey.
Last week, Syrian rebels attacked Kesab, "part of an offensive aimed
at opening up a rebel link to the sea," Reuters reported. And Syria's
government blamed Turkey: "Syrian authorities accused Turkey of helping
the fighters launch their attack on Kasab from Turkish territory,
saying Ankara's army 'provided cover for this terrorist attack'
on the wooded and hilly border region."
And a number of Armenian sources took that accusation further,
and said that it was a deliberate Turkish attack on Armenians. The
Armenian website Mediamax posted an interview with Mudar Barakat,
a pro-government Syria commentator, in which he said that Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan arranged the attack as part of
his campaign for Turkey's upcoming elections. "Erdogan is targeting
Kassab's symbolic importance as a peaceful Syrian cradle for the
Armenian families who survived the massacres enforced by his Ottoman
predecessors and it seems that this attack on Kassab is a reflection
of Erdogan's anger towards Armenia's stand against his terrorism
in Syria, and a reminder of the 1915 massacres and the historical
Turkish animosity towards the Armenians."
The Washington-based Armenian National Committee of America posted
an alert blaming Turkey for the attack on Kesab: "[T]he onslaught on
Kessab was launched from Turkey by foreign fighters affiliated with
an extremist wing of the al-Qaeda terrorist group. Attackers wounded
during fighting were returned to Turkey for medical treatment." And
Public Radio of Armenia published an appeal, purportedly from the
"Armenians of Kesab", saying: "This is a call to all Armenians. This
is a call to humanity. The world needs to hear the truth. Erdogan
and his government are war criminals."
For its part, Turkey has denied the allegations. In a March 26
statement, the Foreign Ministry said:
The allegations by some circles that Turkey is providing support to
the opposition forces by letting them use its territory or through
some other ways during the conflict which have intensified recently
in the Latakia/Kesab region are totally unfounded and untrue.
We consider the efforts of such circles, moving from these claims,
to draw an analogy between the developments in the Kesab region and
the painful incidents of the past as a confrontational political
propaganda attempt and particularly condemn it....
In accordance with its humanitarian and conscientious responsibility,
Turkey notified the relevant UN bodies that Syrian Armenians residing
in Kesep region could be admitted in Turkey too and protection could be
provided to them. Also, the representatives of the Armenian community
were informed of the matter through official channels.
Contacts on this issue are underway. Necessary steps will be taken
to meet the needs of Syrian Armenians as is the case for all other
Syrians.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan has addressed the attack, thanking
the Syrian government for its part in protecting Kesab's Armenians
but not mentioning Turkey. He did, though, mention Kesab's history,
including its suffering in the 1915 genocide. "I think that everyone
should realize that these parallels should sober all the sides,"
he said.
The attack had little to do with Kesab's Armenian heritage and
more to do with its strategic location, said Emil Sanamyan, the
Washington-based editor of the newspaper Armenian Reporter. But it
was predictable for Armenians to see it through the lens of their
own experiences, he told The Bug Pit. "Now it would of course be
desirable for the Turkish government to have the necessary sensitivity
to this subjective reality and give Syrian Armenians some kind special
treatment, but it appears demands of military necessity have overruled
that and the attack on Kessab was staged as a diversionary move to
relieve rebels that have been hammered by Assad's forces along the
Damascus-Latakia corridor," he said. "That is of course of little
relevance to most if not all Armenians and they will perceive it
through the subjective lenses, just like everyone else does."
http://www.eurasianet.org/node/68204