Author: Kalantarian Kevo

REBELS REASSURE CHRISTIANS AFTER CAPTURING KEY SYRIAN BORDER TOWN

TIME Magazine
March 27 2014

Hania Mourtada / Beirut

3:05 PM ET

A rebel fighter checks a launcher near the village of Kessab and
the border crossing with Turkey, in the northwestern province of
Latakia, on March 23, 2014. Rebels seized Kessab a day later.Amr
Radwan al-Homsi–AFP/Getty Images

Kessab, the latest Christian-majority town to fall to rebels,
has become the newest focal point of a media war pitting the Assad
regime against a splintered opposition, as rebels seek to dispel the
perception that they are intolerant of Syria’s religious minorities

It wasn’t long after several Syrian rebel battalions overran the
Armenian-Christian town of Kessab, on the border between Syria and
Turkey, that apocalyptic reports of looting, abduction and mass murder
started appearing in news accounts around the world. “Reports Cite
80 Dead in Kessab; Churches Desecrated,” read one headline in the
diasporic Los Angeles-based Asbarez newspaper. Christian residents
who had fled to nearby towns told reporters they later called home
only to have rebels pick up to tauntingly tell them they had nice
furniture and tasty food.

It has become a familiar trope in the Syrian conflict. Islamist rebels
launch a string of military offensives against a Christian-majority
town to root out government forces there, the latter respond by
indiscriminately bombarding the town, residents run for their lives,
and the government is quick to portray it as another incident of
ethnic cleansing carried out by foreign-sponsored fundamentalists.

Lately, however, rebels have been making a concerted effort to counter
such claims, in online published statements, and, more often, on
YouTube. “[This is] the church of the Armenians in Kessab after its
liberation,” one rebel videographer narrated as he took viewers on a
video tour of one of the city’s perfectly intact churches a day after
rebels took the town. Islam, he declared proudly, teaches respect for
all religions, including Christianity. “The jihadist brothers do not
harm anyone. This is our religion and this is our Islam.”

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Coastal Kessab, the northernmost town in the government stronghold of
Latakia province, has become the latest flashpoint in a battle between
regime forces and rebels determined to secure Syria’s entire northern
border. It has also become the war’s latest ideological battleground,
as both sides attempt to craft competing narratives in a race to come
out on top, not just militarily but also morally. For all the anguished
reports of persecuted Armenian Christians trumpeted by Syrian and
international media outlets, few concrete details have emerged. The
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an anti-government monitoring
organization that has tracked casualties throughout the conflict,
makes no note of dead civilians. Nor is there any photographic or
video proof of destroyed churches in Kessab to date.

Most Christians, according to activists and residents, fled long
before the fighting started, leaving behind a deserted town.

“Contrary to what the flashy Asbarez headlines will have you believe,
the rebels didn’t come in to slaughter Armenians and destroy their
churches,” writes Filor Nigo, an Iraqi-Armenian activist based in the
U.S, on Facebook. “Kessab is a strategically important point in this
military conflict…Syria is engulfed in war and Armenians in Syria
cannot honestly believe that these events would not affect them.”

Increasingly aware of their unflattering image in the media, moderate
rebels are beginning to realize the necessity of deflecting regime
propaganda. They are circulating a message which, whether genuine
or not, borrows from the language of international human rights law
to reassure observers. They insist they are waging their warfare
according to universal principles even as the government portrays a
different reality.

“Considering the interests and well-being of the Syrian population
are our most important priorities, we confirm our commitment to
international human fights law by focusing on military targets and
protecting all civil institutions including schools, hospitals,
places of worship, and houses,” read a recently-circulated social
mediastatement, signed by three major rebel factions including the
Al-Qaeda affiliated Nusra Front. The statement has since been removed
from its original source, with no explanation, but various clips,
with a similar message, are still available on YouTube.

One such clip shows a stilted exchange between Islamist fighters and
three elderly Christian people as they venture out of a building. The
rebels shout reassurances at them while the activist behind the
camera keeps reiterating that this shows how the rebels are keeping
Kessab residents safe. The latter however are visibly perturbed,
if not frightened, and the exchange appears somewhat forced as if
playing out solely for the screen.

Of course, attempts to reassure minorities by the mostly Sunni
opposition are far from new, writes Frederic C. Hof, a senior fellow
at the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, in a recent blog post.

“Opposition leaders have spoken publicly and eloquently about their
vision of a Syria where citizenship will trump all other forms of
political identification, and where Syria’s ethnic and sectarian
diversity will be protected and celebrated.” It’s a comforting vision,
but members of Syria’s minority groups still fear that it will never
make the leap from policy statement to real-world implementation. The
insurgency, plagued by deep schisms, has yet to demonstrate a unified
coherent message. “There is a large disparity in how different rebel
groups envision treating minorities,” says Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi,
a Shillman-Ginsburg Fellow at the Middle East Forum, a nonprofit
organization based in Philadelphia which promotes American interests
in the Middle East. “For the jihadi groups, for example, Alawites
are branded as apostates and Christians are definitely second-class
citizens. Other rebel coalitions speak of protecting minorities
within the framework of Islamic law, but that hardly reassures those
minorities.” More generally, he concludes, “anti-Alawite and anti-Shi’a
sentiment has become mainstream within the insurgency.”

That breakdown in messaging is readily apparent in Kessab. Even
as some rebel groups refute regime propaganda with media-savvy and
conciliatory takes, others have no qualms describing their mission in
overtly sectarian terms. In one clip, a Saudi rebel commander in the
Nusra Front, standing near a sign that reads “Welcome to Kessab,”
promises that the Nusayris, a derogatory term for Assad’s Alawite
minority sect, shall be defeated at the hands of the Sunni Muslims.

“You have your planes, but we have God with us.”

The dizzying array of contradictory clips and statements which have
emerged in the wake of the Kessab takeover reveal two conflicting
currents within the insurgency: defiant ideologically-driven fighters
whose declared mission is a struggle against “apostates” rather than
democracy are sabotaging the images of coexistence that moderate
leaders are putting forward. The question is whether enough factions
will ever rally behind one straightforward message.

SYRIA JA’AFARI TELLS ICP OF SHELLING OF LATAKIA, NOW RUSSIA PROPOSAL

Inner City Press
March 27 2014

By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive

UNITED NATIONS, March 26, updated — While the Security Council
met behind closed doors about the Golan Heights, Syrian Permanent
Representative Bashar Ja’afari came to speak to the press.

Inner City Press asked Ja’afari about Turkey’s shooting of a Syrian
plane, and about a Qatar sponsored event held in the UN on March
21 (see below). Ja’afari answered about Al Nusra shelling Latakia,
and moments later Inner City Press was exclusively told of a Russian
proposal on the shelling.

Update: past 6:30 pm, Inner City Press was informed that in response
to Russia’s proposal, the briefing by the OPCW’s Sigrid Kaag “will
be moved up.” We’ll see.

On the plane shoot down, Ja’afari said on Saturday, March 22 he
spoke with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s chief of staff Malcorra —
and with Jeffrey Feltman, then in Kyiv.

Ja’afari told Inner City Press he has asked UN humanitarian chief
Valerie Amos to be sure to include the attacks on “the Armenians”
in Kassab in her briefing to the Council.

Also in response, Ja’afari said that the Al Nusra Front is shelling
Latakia, where chemical weapons are being taken out of Syria.

Moments later a Security Council member exclusively told Inner City
Press that Russia has proposed a statement on this shelling of Latakia.

On the March 21 event, described below, Ja’afari told Inner City
Press he complained to Malcorra, that the UN is being “corrupted
by petro-dollars.”

When Qatar sponsored an event at the UN on March 21 at which a
report on torture in Syria which Qatar also funded was presented,
it was not listed in the UN Journal. Nor was the event broadcast on
the UNTV Webcast.

Inner City Press heard about it and asked the UN’s top two
spokespeople:

“there is an event in Conference Room 4 right now, sponsored by Qatar,
which is no listed in today’s UN Journal, nor is it on UN Webcast
but it appears to be being filmed. Please explain
the legal status of this meeting, if there are any sponsored beyond
Qatar, how it was publicized and if any request to have it webcast
was made. Thanks, on deadline.”

But no answer was provided. Inner City Press ran to the event and
from the back of a three quarters empty Conference Room 4 asked why
the event was so stealth: not in the UN Journal, not webcast.

The Permanent Representative of Qatar answered, saying it was a
“special event” to which Qatar had invited (some) member states and
groups, and (some) media. There is a UN Media Alert, but this event
was not put in it.

Perhaps it was publicized by the Gulf & Western United Nations
Correspondents Association, which has twice hosted faux “UN” events
by the Syrian National Coalition or Syrian Coalition. (In both cases,
the Free UN Coalition for Access suggested that the SNC hold its
events in the UN briefing room, accessible to all journalists.)

Since French Ambassador Gerard Araud, the first questioner flanked
by representatives of Saudi Arabia and of Turkey which earlier in
the day banned Twitter, has spoken about “fakes” and others about
accountability, Inner City Press asked if the groups Al Nusra and
ISIS, and those who fund them such as private individuals in Qatar
alluded to at the US State Department briefing earlier in the day,
could or would be held accountable.

The SNC representative emphasized what he called links between the
Assad regime and ISIS, saying it was too easy to blame the Gulf
countries.

Here’s from the March 21 US State Department briefing transcript:

Question: you have concerns about the withdrawal of the ambassadors.

Do you also have concerns about the reasons that these countries said
that they withdrew their ambassadors from Qatar? In other words, do you
– if you have concerns about the withdrawal of the ambassadors, do you
also have concerns about Qatar’s behavior, which – alleged behavior,
let’s say – which led to these countries withdrawing their ambassadors?

MS. PSAKI: Well, I know one of the issues that has been mentioned is
the issue of private donations to extremists – and that’s something
that some have mentioned – operating in Syria and elsewhere. It remains
an important priority in our high-level discussions, and one that we
also certainly raise with all states in the region, including Qatar,
including the Government of Kuwait, wherever we have concerns.

After Inner City Press asked about the sponsorship of the event,
a one-page “Joint Statement by the Co-Organizers” was passed out,
listing among the co-organizers France, the UK, US, Belgium, the
Netherlands, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Inner City Press tweeted it.

Watch this site.

AFTER THE GENOCIDE, A MARKET FOR ARMENIAN BONES?

Worldcrunch
March 27 2014

A Turkish writer tries to piece together a particular episode that
offers a grisly European postscript to the slaugther of the Armenians
last century.

Baskin Oran (2014-03-27)

Manuel Kirkyasaryan, an Armenian from the southern Turkish city of
Adana, had recorded his memories to tape before dying in Sydney in
1997. His son Stepan recently found the last tape he recorded before
his death. We are adding it to the 5th edition of my book M.K. Adlı
Cocugun Tehcir Anilari (“The Deportation Memories of the Child named
M.K.”). One particular episode required further research, which I
first present from the original recording:

“And we said: this is the desert of Deir ez-Zor; there is more to it.

We are going on for now. It was the year 1925. The time is summer. I
was at the workshop of the garage of the Topcuyans in Aleppo where
I worked.

One day a large automobile came to the garage; loaded. There were
some things loaded on the top of it with sacks [stacked] high. I said,
‘That is a big load. Is it not heavy?’ And they told me: ‘No, it is not
heavy; it is light. It looks like a lot, but it is light.’ I asked:
‘What is inside the sacks?’ They told me: ‘There was a time when the
Armenian migrants went to the deserts of Deir ez-Zor; I mean they took
them and killed them [there]. Their bones are what is inside.’ I said:
‘What will they do with this?’ They told me: ‘A company came from
Europe. They will gather these bones and take them to the port of
Iskenderun and send to Europe by ship.’

I asked: ‘What will they do?’ They said: ‘We do not know that part.’
They would probably use them for something. I came across scenes
like this twice. There, the Europeans used the Armenians as tools;
they were even taking their lives and bones for their interest.”

Looking further

This is such a horrifying event that I could not believe it. I thought
maybe they made a joke to the young Kirkyasaryan. However, he says
he saw this twice. And we do know that bare bones are actually large
in mass but light in weight.

Then I was shocked by a message by the devrimcikaradeniz.com website,
where details of the same event were written. It was a summary of the
book written by historian Vlassis Agtzidis that used Greek, American
and French sources and newspapers.

It tells of a ship that sailed December 13, 1924 from the Turkish
port of Mudanya to Marseille, France via Thessaloniki, Greece. There
are no documents onboard about the cargo, but the porters discover
this mysterious load is human bones.

This can be considered normal; things are chaotic in Greece which
just experienced the “Asia Minor Catastrophe” and accepted migrants
as large as a fraction of its population in addition. The people who
ordered the load from Marseille must have intervened.

A story is published in the December 23, 1924 edition of the New York
Times with a Paris dateline that tells of a British registered ship
named Zan that arrived in the port of Marseille, carrying 400 tons
of human bones, suspected of being the remains of those “killed in
the Asia Minor massacres.” There were reports that an investigation
would be opened.

The same details are described in the Midi daily’s December 24, 1924
edition, this time with a Marseille dateline: “These bones are coming
from the Armenian killing fields in Turkey and Asia Minor.”

Neither article was printed on the front page of the newspapers –
though we must remember that Europeans then may have been inured to
massacres in the aftermath of World War I. But the facts reported
fit in with the recording of Kirkyasaryan’s testimony in the 1970’s:
the same years and tons of human bones that must have come from
mass graves.

Who sold and bought the bones? And why?

What would the British and French industrialists who imported this
“product” do with it? I consulted a medical professor who said bones
were used to produce glue, gelatin glass frames and, excuse me,
animal feed (using bones for animal feed is banned by the European
Union after the spread of mad cow disease). The bones would be a
pretty cheap “raw material.”

So, who is the exporter? The title of the devrimcikaradeniz.com is very
problematic: “How the Kemalists Sold 50,000 Human Bones to the French?”

It is not possible that the Kemalists (the Committee of Union and
Progress members) took part in this. It is possible that they would
want the bones out of their sight because it would relieve their
consciences, but exporting Greek bones would mean announcing the
massacres of 1913-16 to the West more clearly than before. Moreover,
who could find a Muslim exporter in 1924?

The story cites French and British soap firms as the buyers. However,
according to my friend, the production of soap is made by fresh bones
and its supplements (meat, fat, intestines, etc) from slaughterhouses;
not from dry bones dug from the ground.

Excuse this focus on such a filthy matter. The “producers” of these
bones are the members of the Committee of Union and Progress of
course. But what’s new in this story is the “merchants,” and they are
the same ones cited in Manuel Kirkyasaryan’s first-hand testimony:
“There, the Europeans used the Armenians as tools; they were even
taking their lives and bones for their interest.”

SCHIFF CONDEMNS ‘AL QAEDA AFFILIATED’ ATTACKS ON KESSAB

Thursday, March 27th, 2014

Rep. Adam Schiff

WASHINGTON–Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) on Thursday released
a statement on the attacks by Al Qaeda-affiliated terrorists against
Kessab Armenians and Christians.

“The vicious attacks by al Qaeda affiliated terrorists against
Armenians and other Christians in the Syrian town of Kessab in
northern Syria are beyond appalling. These attacks, which reportedly
originated in Turkey, reflect the depth of the depravity to which
the conflict in Syria has fallen. I have been in touch with the State
Department and have been assured that we are working with Armenian,
Syrian and Turkish officials to determine exactly what happened and
how to prevent further acts of such barbarity,” said Schiff.

“The Syrian civil war has been a disaster for all of Syria’s people,
but especially vulnerable minority populations. I have been working on
multiple fronts to help Syrian Christians, including working to secure
humanitarian parole for Syrians with approved immigrant petitions and
to ensure that humanitarian relief is distributed to all of Syria’s
citizens,” concluded Schiff’s statement.

SYRIA’S ASSAD RECEIVES ARMENIAN LAWMAKERS

16:27 27.03.2014

Armenia, Kessab, Syria

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad cautioned, during a meeting Thursday
with an Armenian parliamentary delegation, that terrorism poses
a threat of fragmenting the region, that has been historically
characterized by cultural and social diversity, SANA agency reported.

The delegation, headed by MP Samvel Farmanyan, conveyed to President
al-Assad a message from President Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia in which
the latter expressed on his behalf and on behalf of his people
condemnation of the terrorist groups fighting in Kassab city in
Lattakia countryside with the backing of Turkey.

The Armenian President offered in the message his thanks to the Syrian
state for the efforts it is exerting to protect all of its citizens.

President al-Assad voiced his appreciation of the objective position
of President Sargsyan that is supportive of Syria’s stability,
highlighting the role parliamentarians could play in revealing the
threats of terrorism and extremism at the international forums and
unifying efforts to face these threats.

The Armenian parliamentarians, in turn, affirmed their full support
for what the Syrian state is doing to restore security and stability
in the country and its efforts to secure the return of the people
who have been displaced from Kassab and other areas to their houses
and home villages.

They also voiced their confidence that Syria will remain a model of
co-existence and national unity.

VARDAN PETROSYAN THE COMEDIAN IS ARBITRARILY DETAINED IN ARMENIA

Le Figaro

Involved in a car accident in Yerevan, Armenian actor, who himself
nearly died Friday, March 28 is considered to “have led to the death
of two people without intention to kill.” His beautiful sister,
Elizabeth Hamel, denounces “a miscarriage of justice.”

In three days, the trial of Vardan Petrosyan (55) will be held in
Yerevan.Actor and comedian renowned in Armenia, it is one of five of
the most beloved people in the country figures. France also known
for working with Robert Hossein, he always fought corruption and
violations of human rights perpetrated by the Armenian diet. The
country is often condemned by the European Court of Human Rights and
Fundamental Freedoms in violation of fundamental rights protected,
and this time it is Vardan Petrosyan who pays the price. The artist’s
family sent a statement to the press, trying to react the French
opinion on its contents and unjustified detention because she fears
a miscarriage of justice.

His beautiful sister, Elisabeth Hamel says. “It’s October 20, 2013
in it all begins. Vardan was on the highway when a vehicle is not
allowed to run and which housed six people was hit. The vehicle was
mistaken output and conducting a reverse. Of course, the driver denies
the facts. That could not be avoided, the shock caused the death of
two teenagers. Vardan was seriously injured. He stayed three days in
a coma and has undergone numerous operations. Today it still suffers
from injuries and bloodless, he lost fifteen pounds. ”

Read more see link below

Thursday, March 27, 2014, Jean Eckian © armenews.com

Other information available: Le Figaro.fr

LATAKIA NOT A SAFE PLACE – KESSAB ARMENIANS ON EVACUATION, LOOTING AND RAPES

16:31 * 27.03.14

Syria’s Armenian-populated town of Kessab continues facing fierce
battles between government forces and the Islamist militants.

Though the Armenians have been evacuated to Latakia, the town is not
thought to be safe enough for the community. Speaking to Tert.am,
Avetis Manjikyan, a 49-year old restaurant owner from Kessab, shared
his concerns in this connection.

He referred to a soldier’s recount of rapes against elderly women. “A
soldier who returned from Kessab today tells me that an elderly
[woman], aged probably 70-80, was stripped naked and raped. The
situation is very bad. They weren’t able to repeat the 1915 massacre;
only looted and raped the elderly,” he said.

Ninety-nine percent of Kessab’s population was evacuated to Latakia
after the town came under three-pronged armed attacks on Friday. They
have found shelter in the city’s Armenian church and the adjacent
buildings.

Though they feel protected in Latakia, the place isn’t safe for them,
Manjikyan said.

“Three to four missiles fall down each day. Latakia is not a safe
place. Our people left only with the clothes they had on. Many were
without passports. Our Armenian youth of Kessab fought for three or
four hours to help us free the people,” he added.

Manjikyan said they hear that the rebel groups from Turkey are now
stealing their property. He said he has reports that his restaurant
too, has been looted.

Asked whether they want to settle in Armenia, Manjikyan answered
that Kessab is a small Armenia for them. “Our Armenia is here. We
didn’t know what the Turks were plotting against us. We thought the
Turks might have changed. We are part of Armenia, the last part of
the Cilician Armenia. Even our mayor here is an Armenian,” he added.

Manjikyan said they are thankful to the Armenian authorities for the
attention to the community.

“We are very thankful to the president, so if they send a plane to
offer relief, it will be very good for us. The situation is not good
here,” he said, noting that hundreds of people now live together in
a small church hall.

ARMENIA MPS MEET WITH SYRIA PRESIDENT AND PARLIAMENT LEADER

March 27, 2014 | 14:17

DAMASCUS. – The Armenian National Assembly (NA) delegation, which
has traveled to Syria, on Thursday met with Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad, to discuss the problems of Syrian Armenians and the future
of Syria’s predominantly Armenian-populated town of Kessab.

NA deputy and ruling Republican NA Faction member Levon Martirosyan,
who is in Syria at present, told the aforesaid to Armenian
News-NEWS.am.

He noted that the meeting was held in a cordial atmosphere.

“Now, we are much better informed about the events unrolling in
and around Syria. We exchanged views with the president. We reached
an agreement that we will exchange the information we received to
the Armenian body politic and, if possible, to the international
community, too.

“The Syrian government is determined to establish peace and to fight
against those groups which have intruded [into Syria] from foreign
countries, including Turkey.

“The Syrian government does not differentiate between its citizens.

Also, it will help the Armenian community return to Kessab. There
is a very positive attitude [in Syria] toward the Armenians,”
Martirosyan informed.

The Armenian MPs had a warm meeting also with Speaker Mohammad Jihad
al-Laham of the People’s Council [parliament] of Syria.

Martirosyan noted that they exchanged views on the regional
developments. As per the Armenian MP, the head of the Syrian parliament
noted that there are citizens of three countries, including Turkey
and Azerbaijan, among the mercenaries who have infiltrated into Syria.

In the early morning on March 21, armed militants from the Jabhat
al-Nusra Islamic terrorist group infiltrated into northern Syria’s
Latakia Governorate, which is predominantly inhabited by Armenians
and Alawites, from four directions. Two large groups of terrorists
had launched the attack from Turkey. About 600 Kessab-Armenian
families are currently sheltered in Latakia city. On March 23, Turkish
fighter planes downed a Syrian military aircraft that was conducting a
mission against the Islamic terrorists in Kessab. On Monday, a group
of Armenia parliament members headed to Syria to assess the situation
in the country.

COMMEMORATION DU MASSACRE DE SUMGAIT A ANTELIAS

LIBAN

Dimanche 23 fevrier 2014, Sa Saintete Aram Ier a preside la Sainte
Liturgie et a offert des prières pour les victimes du massacre de
Soumgaït (1988).

Dans son sermon, le pretre qui a celebre la liturgie a parle de la vie
du Catholicos Karekine I et son engagement au service de la communaute
armenienne, un engagement vivant aujourd’hui dans la fraternite et
qui se manifeste a travers la direction de Sa Saintete Aram I.

A la fin de la sainte liturgie, le clerge, les seminaristes et
les fidèles ont continue la ceremonie commemorative au Mausolee du
Catholicos a côte de la cathedrale.

jeudi 27 mars 2014, Stephane (c)armenews.com

LE PRESIDENT ARMENIEN FELICITE LA COMMUNAUTE KURDE A L’OCCASION DU NAVROZ

ARMENIE

Le president armenien Serge Sarkissian a adresse un message de
felicitations a la communaute kurde d’Armenie a l’occasion du Navroz
(Nouvel An), qui est celebree le 21 Mars.

> a declare le president Sarkissian.