The Armenians around the world seem to be somewhat passive to the problems of their compatriots in Kessab, according to Armenak Abrahamyan, the president of the National Council of Western Armenians.

Speaking via Skype, Abrahamyan said that the general passiveness has caused the Armenians in the war-stricken Syrian region to pay a heavy price amid the continuing war. “It is regrettable, and I think the media sector at large has its share of responsibility. We provided reports as to what could happen or how, so the media outlets should have used the information to concentrate the efforts on the world-Armenians,” he said.

Kessab was under long attacks before being seized by rebels. The Syrian government forces have already sent aid troops to the region. A footage posted earlier on Facebook showed rebels keeping an Armenian church under control.

According to Abrahamyan, many of the local Armenians have joined the self-defense troops since the start of the large-scale military operations in 2012. “The people in Aleppo have entered the state army which fought rebels,” he noted.

Abrahamyan added that such a turn of events was a call to the “Armenian world” for demonstrating a character to organize self-defense.

He said the government forces will try to once again launch military operations to free the region from rebels, but added that it was expected to be very difficult given that Kessab is very much like Nagorno-Karabakh.

Abrahamyan said there are known cases of deaths, but did not point to specific figures.

“Some have gone missing in forests, while others are hidings. We do not have enough information … About 80 civilians died, but I repeat that the figure isn’t clear,” Abrahamyan said.

He added that the rebel group received considerable assistance from Turkey.

Abrahamyan further stressed the importance of raising the problem at the United Nations Security Council.

“It is very important to appeal to both the UN Security Council and all the UN tribunals to raise awareness of what happened. Turkey, as a state, violated the UN decision regarding terrorist assistance. Our goal is to make the UN condemn Turkey,” said the Council’s president.