BRUSSELS (ANP)—The Kurdistan People`s Congress (KONGRA-GEL), in a statement released on Monday, strongly condemned the terror attacks against the Armenian community in Kessab, Syria, and declared full support to the Armenian people.

Beginning on March 21, the Armenian and Alawite population in Kessab was attacked by jihadist terror organizations linked to Al-Qaida, who forced the local inhabitants to flee the city.

“We are deeply concerned by the terror attacks against Armenian civilians in Kessab region in Syria. We have always shared their pain, suffering and the sensitive situation they are inside. We declare full solidarity with Armenian people and all the targeted communities, including Alawites,” says the Kurdish organization KONGRA-GEL, which is a congress assembly for nearly all Kurdish organizations from the northern part of Kurdistan Region (Turkey) and in the Kurdish diaspora. KONGRA-GEL and Union of Communities in Kurdistan (KCK) have millions of supporters, several military wings and control 103 municipalities in Kurdistan, including 36 members of parliament in the Turkish parliament. KONGRA-GEL also has sister organizations in other parts of Kurdistan, like PYD in Rojava (Syrian Kurdistan), which is today in daily confrontation with jihadist terror organizations.

The Kurdistan People`s Congress (KONGRA-GEL) underlined in its statement that up to the present moment there has not been any violence between the people in the region. “The recent attacks are committed by foreign terrorist elements which benefit from the essential logistic and moral support of the Turkish authorities.”

In this regard, Kessab, which has been populated by Armenians before and after the Armenian genocide of 1915, is seen as a symbol of the tragic Armenian history of deportations and massacres. “It preserves the freshness of still painful memories,” says the statement.

The recent attacks in Kessab are made by the terrorist organizations under the name of “Anfal campaign,” as in cleansing of non-Muslim population. The same term and methods of “Anfal” has been used by Saddam Hussein against the Kurdish population in today’s Federal Kurdistan (Iraq). According to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), 182 thousands civilians lost their lives as victims of that campaign.