ARMENIAN PRESIDENT THANKS SYRIA FOR PROTECTING ARMENIANS IN KASAB
Syrian Arab News Agency, Syria
March 24 2014
Mar 24, 2014
Yerevan, (SANA) Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan expressed deep
concern over the Turkish attack on Kasab area in Lattakia where a
large number of Armenians dwell.
Armenian President thanked Syrian authorities for protecting Armenians
in Kasab who were forced to leave their homeland twice in the past
and are facing a third attempt due to the attacks of Turkish military
legions.”
“All of us remember the history of Kasab very well. Unfortunately, in
the course of the past century it has been rich in hellish realities
of deportation of Armenians” Serzh Sargsyan said.
Serzh Sargsyan recalled that the Turkish legions have forced Armenians
twice to leave Kasab; the first in 1909 and the second in 1915.
Today’s deportation of Kasab Armenians – the third in history – is
the most serious challenge to the mechanisms of protecting national
minorities. I think everyone should realize that these parallels
should be sobering for all parties, President Sargsyan said.
I have already instructed Armenian representatives at UN Offices in New
York and Geneva to pursue the issues of guaranteeing the security of
Kasab Armenians and their return to their homes, President Sargsyan
said.
The Armenian National Committee- International condemned the attack
and Turkey’s active role in aiding and abetting extremist groups in
their attacks against minority populations in Syria.
For months we have warned the international community of the imminent
threat posed by extremist foreign fighters against the Christian
minority population in Syria, the Committee said in a statement.
These vicious and unprompted attacks against the Armenian-populated
town and villages of Kasab are the latest examples of this violence,
actively encouraged by neighboring Turkey, said the statement.
The Committee called on all states with any influence in the Syrian
events to use to use all available means to stop these attacks against
the peaceful civilian population of Kasab , to allow them to return
to their homes in safety and security.
In the last one hundred years, this is the third time that the
Armenians are being forced to leave Kasab and in all three cases,
turkey is the aggressor or on the side of the aggressors, said the
statement.
We condemn the actions of the Turkish armed forces which are, in fact,
a new challenge for the Armenian community, a statement issued by
the Armenian MPs said.
We call on the Syrian and Turkish governments to carry out an unbiased
investigation of those developments and we urge the international
community to make a clear assessment of this deplorable case of
violation of human rights, sending UN observers to the territories
of Kesab populated by Armenians to document the cases of massive
violation of human rights, the statement said.
The MPs called on the Armenian government to take necessary measures
and the Armenians worldwide to join their efforts to support protection
of the rights of Armenian Syrians.
We are concerned over the current situation there, the Armenian
population of Kesab has been moved to Latakia. The Foreign Ministry is
watching the situation and trying to find possible ways of assistance,”
Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman Tigran Balaian said.
M. Ismael/H. Sabbagh