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MOSCOW URGES UN SECURITY COUNCIL TO DISCUSS SITUATION IN ARMENIAN POPULATED KESSAB

Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs urges the UN Security Council to discuss the situation in Armenian populated Kessab and give it a principled evaluation. Press department of the Ministry made a statement about this on April 1, 2014, as REGNUM Information Agency reports.

“For several days the attention of the international community and human rights groups has been focused on the situation in the town of Kessab, southwestern part of Syria near the Turkish border, about 65 km from Latakia. The area around Kessab is compactly populated by Armenians for many centuries since the times of Armenian Kingdom of Kilikia and reportedly, it is under a fierce attack of several thousand Al-Qaeda-linked militants from extremists groups Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar ash-Sham. It has to be noted that there were no military facilities in this historically Armenian area that was attacked by a violent international gang of murderers. The only fault of 700 families, who were forced to flee their homes to escape the Jihadists, was their loyalty to Syria’s government. Currently these people found shelter with their relatives and Christian churches of various creeds in Latakia,” the statement says.

The Ministry statement also refers to the video posted on YouTube, noting that “even if people executed on the video are not Armenians, as some sources allege, but are soldiers of the Syrian Army, it does not mean this crime is less horrendous”.

“We decisively condemn the extremists’ ghastly actions in Syria. We believe that the Syrian government and the opposition should join efforts to eradicate terrorism on the Syrian land as it has been set forth at the Lough Erne G8 Summit and in the current situation this is especially important. Any excuses aimed at “postponing” practical actions in this direction until forming “an interim authority” in Syria, and especially the attempts to justify crimes of terrorists are absolutely unacceptable. Immediate action is required,” noted the Ministry and added that the UN Security Council should discuss the situation in Kessab and give it a principled evaluation.

As a reminder, since March 22 the Kessab area in Syria near the Turkish border, the population of which is predominantly Armenian, has been under attacks of militants who wage war against Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria. The Syrian government assured that the army will do anything possible to bring peace back to the area. Syrian authorities believe that Turkey not only encouraged the militant attack on Kessab, but backed them up with heavy weaponry. Many ethnic Armenians of Kessab (700 families) had to go to Latakia for safety. Recently some parliament members from Armenia visited them and also met with the Syrian president.

It has to be mentioned that according to Armenia’s Ministry of Diaspora, after three years of a bloody civil war, only 50,000 Armenians are left in Syria, while as some sources suggest, before the war the Armenian community of Syria comprised 100,000 people. Others claim 60,000, whereas the Ministry of Diaspora maintains the number was 80,000. According to the official data, over 11,000 Syrian Armenians fled to Armenia. A considerable number of Armenian refugees found shelter in neighboring Lebanon, and as the sources of REGNUM close to the Armenian Apostolic Church in Lebanon suggest, they are well over 10,000. As some experts contend, additional 10,000 Syrian Armenians moved to other Arab countries, Europe and USA. According to the information from the Armenian Ministry of Diaspora, there were 90 Armenian casualties during the conflict.