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.