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Armenian Bar Association Stands Strong For Kessab's Recovery

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  • Armenian Bar Association Stands Strong For Kessab's Recovery

    ARMENIAN BAR ASSOCIATION STANDS STRONG FOR KESSAB'S RECOVERY

    Monday, September 29th, 2014

    The Armenian Bar Association

    On the evening of August 27, 2014, a large audience of concerned
    community members gathered in Glendale, California to attend a town
    hall meeting which focused on the plight of the Armenian community
    in Kessab, Syria. Co-sponsored by the Armenian Bar Association, the
    event featured as keynote speakers Garo Ghazarian, Chairman Ex-Officio
    of the Association and Stepan Apelian, a resident, business owner,
    and community leader of Kessab.

    Kessab is a town located in the northwest corner of Syria, nestled
    in the mountains which rise above the Mediterranean Sea. The town's
    inhabitants are almost entirely made up of Armenians. Kessab is one of
    the few Armenian villages that survived the Genocide and was able to
    continue as a vibrant community. In March, 2014, the historic town was
    invaded by heavily-armed militia who entered Syria from the Republic
    of Turkey. Engrained with the collective memory of the Genocide, most
    of the residents of Kessab fled to the neighboring city of Latakia,
    Syria. The insurgents inflicted violence upon the community and,
    in the process, looted and destroyed Armenian churches, schools,
    homes and businesses.

    Ghazarian, who co-chairs the Armenian Genocide Centennial
    Committee-Western United States, was the first speaker. He explained
    to the audience that hearing of the violence that was being wrought
    upon his ancestral home of Kessab, he decided to travel as close
    as possible to Kessab so as to get a first-hand assessment of the
    situation and determine the immediate needs of the refugees. In an
    interview conducted by the Los Angeles Times Beirut Bureau Chief,
    Patrick McDonnell, on April 9, 2014, Ghazarian explained his reasoning
    as follows: "The preservation of this village and its people is of
    utmost importance to the Armenian people." Through the efforts of
    Ghazarian, refugees from Kessab who had reached Beirut were interviewed
    by McDonnell. He wrote of their harrowing stories and the Los Angeles
    Times brought their tragic situation to world attention by publishing
    the Kessab community's plight in the first section of the newspaper.

    Ghazarian further explained to the town hall participants that he
    could not stay home in Los Angeles, while the residents of his
    family's hometown were in peril. In an interview following the
    lecture, Ghazarian, drawing from his eye-witness observations,
    added: "I witnessed the emotional and individualized recountings
    of the Kessabtsis' exodus from their sacred ground. We must insist
    that the international community as well as Turkey's own ally, the
    United States, stop paying lip service to Armenians, and to start
    an investigation of Turkey at all levels. We must demand more than
    mere utterances of 'concern.' We must demand action to not only halt
    Turkey's continued disregard of the rights and liberties of Armenians,
    but also the undertaking of sustainable efforts to remedy what will
    no doubt become an irreversible reality on the ground for our fellow
    Armenians of Kessab."

    With the shock and awe of dozens of pictures, Apelian was able to
    convey to the audience a sense of the terror and destruction which the
    Armenian community faced by the invading forces. He explained that
    several churches, schools and businesses were gutted of everything
    that was contained within them. Sparing nothing in their ruinous wake,
    the aggressors went as far as to desecrate the crosses of our Armenian
    churches. Apelian emphasized that Kessab poses an opportunity and
    challenge to the world-wide Armenian nation to galvanize itself in
    aid of its fellow Armenians and to help rebuild our collective past
    and future.

    http://asbarez.com/127409/armenian-bar-association-stands-strong-for-kessab%E2%80%99s-recovery/

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