Al-Akhbar English, Lebanon
February 8, 2014 Saturday
Armenians in Syria, After the Conflict
Racha Abi Haidar
“Integration not fusion,” has been the slogan of the Armenian diaspora
since being the target of genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire
nearly a century ago. But since the start of the Syrian conflict, the
Armenian community in Syria has felt increasingly patriotic, despite
the fact that the fighting has displaced thousands of them.
“I feel both envious and proud when I see the Syrian diplomatic
delegation. I wish I could get the chance in the future to defend my
country with my words and my mind. Our Syria deserves our utmost love,
diligence, and sacrifice,” wrote Syrian-Armenian activist Kivork
Almasian, 27, commenting on the Geneva II talks on his Facebook page.
In May 2011, Harut, 25, Kivork’s brother, was kidnapped with his
girlfriend by Liwaa al-Tawhid, which contacted his family to demand a
ransom of $40,000. The family convinced the kidnappers to bring the
figure down to $12,000.
Kivork said, “The massacre we face today is similar to the one our
ancestors suffered at the hands of the Turks.”Harut and Kivork’s
father went to the al-Dan region in Idlib to pay the ransom and get
his son back. Harut had been tortured, both physically and
psychologically, according to Kivork. The family then left to Lebanon.
Kivork holds a degree in political science. He has been visiting
Damascus more and more frequently. He certainly does not want to stay
in Beirut, and has hopes of returning to his hometown of Aleppo soon.
Three years into the Syrian crisis, Armenians of different
denominations – Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical – have received
their “fair” share of suffering, murder, kidnapping, and displacement
because of the conflict, just like the rest of the Syrians.
But the Armenians also discovered that Syria is their home rather than
their “host country.” In truth, the Turkish involvement in the Syrian
war has reinforced this sentiment. Kivork said, “The massacre we face
today is similar to the one our ancestors suffered at the hands of the
Turks.”
Kivork said that “integration, not fusion” is a slogan that Armenians
in the Arab Levant have lived with for decades. However, he argued,
“The war in Syria has shown that this is not true, because my home is
Syria and my allegiance is to it.”
He said that many of his friends who fled to Armenia after the war
could not acclimatize, adding, “We, as Syrians, are different from
Armenian society. Our culture is different. Even Syrian-Armenian
students ended up raising the Syrian flag in the schools they went to
in Armenia.”
The number of Syrian Armenians before the conflict was estimated to be
80,000, of whom up to 80 percent lived in Aleppo, 10 percent in
Damascus, and 10 percent in Deir al-Zour, Hassakeh, Qamishli, and
al-Raqqa. The bloody events, especially in Aleppo, forced them to flee
to other areas within Syria including Damascus, Latakia, and Tartous,
or to Lebanon and Armenia.
Anthony Bardkjian, 24, is continuing his education in Yerevan. He
said, “I live here like an expatriate. I need time to adjust. Since my
childhood, I have identified with both Armenia and Syria.” Although he
is not optimistic and does not think things will improve anytime soon,
especially in Aleppo, he said, “I will return when I feel that the
danger is gone, because my livelihood, my home, and many other things
are there.”
Since the outbreak of the war, the Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate of
Aleppo has been trying to continue its social and humanitarian
activities, such as caring for orphans, the elderly, and the poor.
Gerayr Rissian, spokesperson for the Patriarchate, told Al-Akhbar,
“The schools, universities, culture clubs, and charities are still
operating, albeit at a smaller pace.”
Rissian refused to characterize the Armenians’ exit from Syria as
“immigration.” He said, “We do not think of it this way because the
majority have left temporarily, and will return as soon as the crisis
is over.” He put the percentage of Armenians displaced at a quarter to
a third of the total number. Concerning the causes of their flight, he
said, “Many have lost their businesses. Factories and warehouses in
the industrial area, al-Midan, al-Arqoub, and Sheikh Maqsoud have been
completely looted.”
For her part, Maria has not left Damascus since the beginning of the
conflict. She still teaches at a school in the Syrian capital. She
said, “I never felt that I had to leave.”
Maria continued, “After this war, Syrian-Armenians felt more Syrian
than Armenian. Armenian schools remain open; scouts clubs and cultural
associations are trying to step up their activities, and charities
continue to supply rations and medical supplies for needy families.”
Meanwhile, like many other historical churches that have been
ransacked by extremist groups, three Armenian churches have been
destroyed in Aleppo, Deir al-Zour, and al-Raqqa. Despite their
relatively small numbers in Syria, Maria said, ” Armenians have
suffered like all other communities in Syria. Many businesspeople and
industrialists lost their businesses, not to mention the martyrs,
wounded, abductees, and refugees.”
The war has pushed Armenians to integrate more and more into a society
that they had already been integrated into. Maria, for instance, is
involved in relief work with NGOs and relief committees that
distribute aid to Armenians and others. Moreover, many young Armenians
have enlisted with the army and the National Defense Forces, in
addition to popular committees that sprang up in their areas of
residence to defend their neighborhoods.
According to an Armenian source, dozens of Armenian soldiers have been
killed in combat, in addition to many more Armenian civilians who died
from shelling or sniper fire in Aleppo. According to the same source,
up to a hundred Armenians have been kidnapped in the Aleppo
governorate alone; they are still unaccounted for.
Meanwhile, like many other historical churches that have been
ransacked by extremist groups, three Armenian churches have been
destroyed in Aleppo, Deir al-Zour, and al-Raqqa. In the latter case,
militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) set fire to
the church and took down the cross from the top of the church tower,
replacing it with ISIS flags.
Syrian-Armenians like to emphasize their Syrian identity. They say
that they have lived in Greater Syria since before Christ. True, their
numbers increased greatly after the Armenian genocide, but Armenian
convoys had always passed through Syria, including through areas like
Deir al-Zour and al-Raqqa.
Syrian-Armenians have called the area where they now live, near the
Armenian capital Yerevan, New Aleppo. In effect, it is Armenia that is
a host country for Syrian-Armenians, pending their return to their
real home, Syria.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/armenians-syria-after-conflict