YouTube ban: How Turkish officials conspired to stage Syria attack to provoke war #kessab (Video)

March 28, 2014 By administrator

RT Published time: March 28, 2014

“I’ll make up a cause of war by ordering a missile attack on Turkey.” This leaked conversation is coming back to haunt the highest echelons of the Turkish government as it plans a provocation in Syria, while scrambling to contain social media internally.

The leaked audiotapes that reveal Turkey’s highest ministers staging an anti-Assad military intervention in Syria, have already caused YouTube to be shut down in the country, as well as leading to fevered accusations of treachery and betrayal of Turkey’s political interests – “a declaration of war,” as Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu put it.

This is of course after intelligence chief Hakan Fidan suggested seizing the opportunity to secure Turkish intervention in the Syrian conflict – a war that has already claimed 140,000 lives, and counting. In the conversation, Davutoğlu is heard saying that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sees any attack as an “opportunity” to increase troop presence in Syria, where it has staunchly supported the anti-Assad rebels.

Below is a transcript of that conversation in full. The video can be found below.

Ahmet Davutoğlu:
“Prime Minister said that in current conjuncture, this attack (on Suleiman Shah Tomb) must be seen as an opportunity for us.”

Hakan Fidan:
“I’ll send 4 men from Syria, if that’s what it takes. I’ll make up a cause of war by ordering a missile attack on Turkey; we can also prepare an attack on Suleiman Shah Tomb if necessary.”

Hakan Fidan:

“I’ll send 4 men from Syria, if that’s what it takes. I’ll make up a cause of war by ordering a missile attack on Turkey

Feridun Sinirlioğlu:
“Our national security has become a common, cheap domestic policy outfit.”

Yaşar Güler:
“It’s a direct cause of war. I mean, what’re going to do is a direct cause of war.”
——–
FIRST SCREEN:
Ahmet Davutoğlu: I couldn’t entirely understand the other thing; what exactly does our foreign ministry supposed to do? No, I’m not talking about the thing. There are other things we’re supposed to do. If we decide on this, we are to notify the United Nations, the Istanbul Consulate of the Syrian regime, right?

Feridun Sinirlioğlu: But if we decide on an operation in there, it should create a shocking effect. I mean, if we are going to do so. I don’t know what we’re going to do, but regardless of what we decide, I don’t think it’d be appropriate to notify anyone beforehand.

Feridun Sinirlioğlu: But if we decide on an operation in there, it should create a shocking effect. I

mean, if we are going to do so. I don’t know what we’re going to do, but regardless of what we decide, I don’t think it’d be appropriate to notify anyone beforehand.

Ahmet Davutoğlu: OK, but we’re gonna have to prepare somehow. To avoid any shorts on regarding international law. I just realised when I was talking to the president (Abdullah Gül), if the Turkish tanks go in there, it means we’re in there in any case, right?

Yaşar Güler: It means we’re in, yes.

Ahmet Davutoğlu: Yeah, but there’s a difference between going in with aircraft and going in with tanks…

SECOND SCREEN:
Yaşar Güler: Maybe we can tell the Syrian consulate general that, ISIL is currently working alongside the regime, and that place is Turkish land. We should definitely…

Ahmet Davutoğlu: But we have already said that, sent them several diplomatic notes.

Yaşar Güler: To Syria…

Feridun Sinirlioğlu: That’s right.

Ahmet Davutoğlu: Yes, we’ve sent them countless times. Therefore, I’d like to know what our Chief of Staff’s expects from our ministry.

Yaşar Güler: Maybe his intent was to say that, I don’t really know, he met with Mr. Fidan.

Hakan Fidan: Well, he did mention that part but we didn’t go into any further details.

Yaşar Güler: Maybe that was what he meant… A diplomatic note to Syria?

Hakan Fidan: Maybe the Foreign Ministry is assigned with coordination…

THIRD SCREEN:
Ahmet Davutoğlu: I mean, I could coordinate the diplomacy but civil war, the military…

Feridun Sinirlioğlu: That’s what I told back there. For one thing, the situation is different. An operation on ISIL has solid ground on international law. We’re going to portray this is Al-Qaeda, there’s no distress there if it’s a matter regarding Al-Qaeda. And if it comes to defending Suleiman Shah Tomb, that’s a matter of protecting our land.

Yaşar Güler: We don’t have any problems with that.

Hakan Fidan: Second after it happens, it’ll cause a great internal commotion (several bombing events is bound to happen within). The border is not under control…

Feridun Sinirlioğlu:I mean, yes, the bombings are of course going to happen. But I remember our talk from 3 years ago…

Yaşar Güler: Mr. Fidan should urgently receive back-up and we need to help him supply guns and ammo to rebels. We need to speak with the minister. Our Interior Minister, our Defense Minister. We need to talk about this and reach a resolution sir.

Ahmet Davutoğlu: How did we get special forces into action when there was a threat in Northern Iraq? We should have done so in there, too. We should have trained those men. We should have sent men. Anyway, we can’t do that, we can only do what diplomacy…

Feridun Sinirlioğlu: I told you back then, for God’s sake, General, you know how we managed to get those tanks in, you were there.

Yaşar Güler: What, you mean our stuff?

Feridun Sinirlioğlu: Yes, how do you think we’ve managed to rally our tanks into Iraq? How? How did we manage to get special forces, the battalions in? I was involved in that. Let me be clear, there was no government decision on that, we have managed that just with a single order.

FOURTH SCREEN:
Yaşar Güler: Well, I agree with you. For one thing, we’re not even discussing that. But there are different things that Syria can do right now.

Ahmet Davutoğlu: General, the reason we’re saying no to this operation is because we know about the capacity of those men.

Yaşar Güler:

Look, sir, isn’t MKE (Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation) at minister’s bidding? Sir, I mean, Qatar is looking for ammo to buy in cash. Ready cash. So, why don’t they just get it done? It’s at Mr. Minister’s com

Ahmet Davutoğlu: But there’s the spot we can’t act integratedly, we can’t coordinate.

mand.

Yaşar Güler: Then, our Prime Minister can summon both Mr. Defence Minister and Mr. Minister at the same time. Then he can directly talk to them.

Ahmet Davutoğlu: We, Mr. Siniroğlu and I, have literally begged Mr. Prime Minster for a private meeting, we said that things were not looking so bright.

FIFTH SCREEN:
Yaşar Güler: Also, it doesn’t have to be a crowded meeting. Yourself, Mr. Defence Minister, Mr. Interior Minister and our Chief of Staff, the four of you are enough. There’s no need for a crowd. Because, sir, the main need there is guns and ammo. Not even guns, mainly ammo. We’ve just talked about this, sir. Let’s say we’re building an army down there, 1000 strong. If we get them into that war without previously storing a minimum of 6-months’ worth of ammo, these men will return to us after two months.

Ahmet Davutoğlu: They’re back already.

Yaşar Güler: They’ll return to us, sir.

Ahmet Davutoğlu: They’ve came back from… What was it? Çobanbey.

Yaşar Güler: Yes, indeed, sir. This matter can’t be just a burden on Mr. Fidan’s shoulders as it is now. It’s unacceptable. I mean, we can’t understand this. Why?

SIXTH SCREEN:
Ahmet Davutoğlu: That evening we’d reached a resolution. And I thought that things were taking a turn for the good. Our…

Feridun Sinirlioğlu: We issued the MGK (National Security Council) resolution the day after. Then we talked with the general…

Ahmet Davutoğlu: And the other forces really do a good follow up on this weakness of ours. You say that you’re going to capture this place, and that men being there constitutes a risk factor. You pull them back. You capture the place. You reinforce it and send in your troops again.

Yaşar Güler: Exactly, sir. You’re absolutely right.

Ahmet Davutoğlu: Right? That’s how I interpret it. But after the evacuation, this is not a military necessity. It’s a whole other thing.

SEVENTH SCREEN
Feridun Siniroğlu: There are some serious shifts in global and regional geopolitics. It now can spread to other places. You said it yourself today, and others agreed… We’re headed to a different game now. We should be able to see those. That ISIL and all that jazz, all those organisations are extremely open to manipulation. Having a region made up of organisations of similar nature will constitute a vital security risk for us. And when we first went into Northern Iraq, there was always the risk of PKK blowing up the place. If we thoroughly consider the risks and substantiate… As the general just said…

Yaşar Güler: Sir, when you were inside a moment ago, we were discussing just that. Openly. I mean, armed forces are a “tool” necessary for you in every turn.

Ahmet Davutoğlu: Of course. I always tell the Prime Minister, in your absence, the same thing in academic jargon, you can’t stay in those lands without hard power. Without hard power, there can be no soft power.

EIGTH SCREEN
Yaşar Güler: Sir.

Feridun Sinirlioğlu: The national security has been politicised. I don’t remember anything like this in Turkish political history. It has become a matter of domestic policy. All talks we’ve done on defending our lands, our border security, our sovereign lands in there, they’ve all become a common, cheap domestic policy outfit.

Yaşar Güler: Exactly.

Feridun Siniroğlu: That has never happened before. Unfortunately but…

Yaşar Güler: I mean, do even one of the opposition parties support you in such a high point of national security? Sir, is this a justifiable sense of national security?

Feridun Sinirlioğlu: I don’t even remember such a period.

NINTH SCREEN:
Yaşar Güler: In what matter can we be unified, if not a matter of national security of such importance? None.

Ahmet Davutoğlu: The year 2012, we didn’t do it 2011. If only we’d took serious action back then, even in the summer of 2012.

Feridun Sinirlioğlu: They were at their lowest back in 2012.

Ahmet Davutoğlu: Internally, they were just like Libya. Who comes in and goes from power is not of any importance to us. But some things…

Yaşar Güler: Sir, to avoid any confusion, our need in 2011 was guns and ammo. In 2012, 2013 and today also. We’re in the exact same point. We absolutely need to find this and secure that place.

Ahmet Davutoğlu: Guns and ammo are not a big need for that place. Because we couldn’t get the human factor in order…

#savekessab A call to all Armenians worldwide Armenians Kessab

March 28, 2014 By administrator

Armenians Kessab after fleeing attacks by extremist militants in Turkey and refugees currently living in Latakia, launched an appeal to all Armenians worldwide. The full text of the letter is below.

“The March 21, 2014 our beautiful city was brutally attacked by extremists linked to al-Qaeda, with the blessing and logistical support of the Turkish government and its military.

“Before sunrise, we woke up to the horror of a rain of missiles and rockets falling on our city. Thousands of extremists have crossed borders to our city. Missiles were fired from Turkey to destroy the beautiful Kessab and to celebrate the approach of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Kessabtsis heroes defended the city with their simple hunting weapons until Syrian government forces are fighting in our city. If Kessabtsis have not been informed to leave their homes by these heroes, the world would have seen in silence yet another genocide would have understood by all the media lies another version.

“Kessab has always been home to thousands of Armenians for centuries. The first Kessab heartbreaking tragedy happened in April 1909, when a crowd of thousands of Turks attacked Kessab flying and burning houses. 161 Armenians were killed in this brutal attack. In 1915, during the Armenian Genocide, the Turkish troops entered Kessab and began to deport the Armenians killed nearly 5,000 Armenians Kessab. The Armenian genocide by the Turks in 1915 claimed the lives of a million and a half Armenians. More Armenians were killed in Syria if nothing had been done. Arabs in Syria have protected us, took care of us, helped us back on our feet and helped us survive through this horrible memories of death and destruction and we will be eternally grateful. Since we lived in peace and harmony with other religion, like a big family in a house called Syria.

“Today, we need help again, because, unfortunately, the Turkish government has dared to attack the Armenians once again ignoring the Armenian case. With this act Turkey refused, once again, to recognize the Armenian genocide carried out by the Turks and assist in the killing of more Armenians in Syria. We have nothing against the Turkish people. We lived as neighbors with them and you want to continue to live as neighbors with them. This is the Turkish government, which supports and facilitates the murder of Kessabtsis by terrorists that we criticize. We just want to find our city or what remains of it. We are heartbroken by the numerous videos and pictures that show how these extremists are destroying our beautiful city and burn heart. All Syrians know where these extremists come, death and destruction left behind them.

“Our houses we were taken centuries of heritage were destroyed.

“This is a call to all Armenians. This is a call to humanity. The world needs to hear the truth. Erdogan and his government are war criminals. We need your help. We need to take action. Our lives depend on the actions that you will do to ensure that we do not die. We were forced to leave our homes and our city with nothing but the clothes we wear. If we had taken even the bare necessities, we would certainly be dead. Most of us can not even escape it, because we do not have our passports or identification documents. Please call for the intervention of your governments, the UN, any other authority which you think could help us. All we want to do is live. If you ignore this, we will all die a horrible death at the hands of these terrorists massacred in cold blood like many other Armenians in Aleppo, Yacoubiyeh, Ghenemiyeh and around Syria.

“Those who you call rebels are extremists who came to Syria for jihad with many nationalities among them as Afghans, Chechens and Saudis. The Kessabtsis and throughout Syria have seen and have been attacked and killed by them. The media can not hide the truth forever. Those you call rebels target attacks against civilians and.

“We all live in peace and happy, there is only three years. This is not a revolution, this is war. And the Syrian army is now Kessab, fights to ensure that the Armenians will return home safely. ”

Friday, March 28, 2014,
Stéphane © armenews.com

Washington: Representative Sherman Condemns Kessab Attacks #savekessab

March 27, 2014 By administrator

WASHINGTON—Representative Brad Sherman (D-CA) released the following statement on the attacks on Armenian civilians in Kessab, Syria.

“I am deeply concerned by the dire situation in Kessab, Syria. Extremist forces have reportedly crossed the border from Turkey into Kessab, an area inhabited mostly by Armenians. Hundreds of families have been forced to leave their homes for fear of their safety. There are reports that the forces entering Kessab are desecrating churches and pillaging Armenian homes. I have been in contact with the State Department and have urged them to take the necessary actions to assist the Armenians in Syria. Turkey must take immediate action to help prevent extremist attacks on Armenian civilians.”

Group of Armenia citizens ready to defend Syria’s Armenian-populated areas

March 27, 2014 By administrator

March 26, 2014 | 15:13

YEREVAN. – There are volunteers in Armenia who have expressed a wish to set up a volunteer detachment and head to Syria to protect the Armenian-populated areas (PHOTOS).

Several dozens of Armenian citizens, who on Wednesday staged a demonstration in front of the UN Office in Armenia, told the aforementioned to reporters.

“We want to form a 20-30 member detachment. We will inform the [Armenian] government about this idea.

“[But] for the most part, this detachment can help the Syrian Armenians emotionally, so they sense that their compatriots stand with them, and they will be with them at the moment of need,” initiative member Arman Mkhitaryan told Armenian-NEWS.am.

In his words, however, the UN’s silence on this matter is strange.

“We want to remind this organization the objectives it is called to serve. We condemn the UN’s silence; this is a crime, a silent acquiescence to Turkey’s actions,” Mkhitaryan added.

Subsequently, the protestors handed a respective letter to the UN Office in Armenia.

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 Armenian parliament members headed to Latakia.

Photo by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am

Demokrat Haber: Looters of Armenian houses in Kessab spoke Turkish

March 27, 2014 By administrator

Opposition Turkish media actively cover the events in the Armenian-populated town of Kessab in Syria neighboring with the Turkish province of Hatay and in nearby districts.

Citing information received from Syrian Armenians, Demokrat Haber reports that looters of Armenian houses in Kessab speak Turkish.

When Kessab resident Ani Boymushakyan called the office of the Armenian Evangelical Church in Kessab, jihadists fighting against Assad answered in Turkish. According to another Armenian, when he called his apartment after moving to Latakia, rebels answered, who he said also spoke Turkish.

On March 21, the Armenian-populated town of Kessab in Syria was attacked by armed bands from three points in Turkey. The Armenian residents were forced to abandon the town and were evacuated to neighboring Latakia.

#kessab

#savekessab

Turkish Activists Condemn Ongoing Offences in Kessab

March 27, 2014 By administrator

Publisher Sait Cetinoglu (left) and author Ragip Zarakolu, two of Turkey’s most prominent intellectuals

YEREVAN (Armenpress)—The attacks against the Armenian-populated Syrian town of Kessab and Turkey’s support to the terrorists carrying out the attacks has angered some Turkish intellectuals. As Turkey’s DemokratHaber.net reports, prominent Turkish publisher and author Ragip Zarakolu and publicist Sait Cetinoglu have voiced their concerns.

“Al-Qaeda’s group easily crossed the border with Antakya and attacked the magnificent region of Kessab, situated right on the opposite side of the border. Among the other peculiarities of Kessab is that it is an Armenian-populated town. But now Kessab is totally empty. The local population has again had to migrate after 1915 and then 1939. They have currently fled to Latakia,” Ragip Zarakolu underscored.

Another Turkish intellectual Sait Cetinoglu stated that the houses of the Armenians are being robbed. Among other things Sait Cetinoglu emphasized: “I have friends in Kessab. Historian Hakob Cholakian from Musa Dagh also lives in Kessab. I am concerned with the situation my friends appeared in. Kessab was a real paradise on earth. What a pity that nothing will be left from that beauty. There are testimonies saying that the looting is coordinated from Turkey.”

The armed incursion began on Friday, March 21, with rebels associated with Al-Qaeda’s al-Nusra Front, Sham al-Islam and Ansar al-Sham crossing the Turkish border and attacking the Armenian civilian population of Kessab. The attackers immediately seized two guard posts overlooking Kessab, including a strategic hill known as Observatory 45 and later took over the border crossing point with Turkey. Snipers targeted the civilian population and launched mortar attacks on the town and the surrounding villages.

According to eyewitness accounts, the attackers crossed the Turkish border with Syria openly passing through Turkish military barracks. According to Turkish media reports, the attackers carried their injured back to Turkey for treatment in the town of Yayladagi.

Some 670 Armenian families, the majority of the population of Kessab, were evacuated by the local Armenian community leadership to safer areas in neighboring Basit and Latakia. Ten to fifteen families with relations too elderly to move were either unable to leave or chose to stay in their homes.

On Saturday, March 22, Syrian troops launched a counteroffensive in an attempt to regain the border crossing point, eye-witnesses and state media reported. However, on Sunday, March 23, the extremist groups once again entered the town of Kessab, took the remaining Armenian families hostage, desecrated the town’s three Armenian churches, pillaging local residences and occupying the town and surrounding villages.

Located in the northwestern corner of Syria, near the border with Turkey, Kessab had, until very recently, evaded major battles in the Syrian conflict. The local Armenian population had increased in recent years with the city serving as safe-haven for those fleeing from the war-torn cities of Yacubiye, Rakka and Aleppo.

ANC of Europe Appeals to EU Leaders for Action on Kessab

March 27, 2014 By administrator

#savekessab

BRUSSELS—The President of the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (ANC of Europe) Kaspar Karampetian has sent a letter to the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, and the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz. The letter reads:

“In the last days, we are very much concerned with what’s happening in Syria, particularly in the region of Kessab, at the north-westernmost border of Syria with Turkey, where Al-Qaeda affiliated extremists attacked the region from Turkey, and drove the civilian population out of their homes.

“We would like to draw your attention on this matter, and ask you to intervene and stop the organized attacks on the Armenian population, a region that is since centuries predominantly inhabited by Armenians. The civilian population had to be evacuated south to safer regions along the coastline. They are being hosted by their relatives and the Armenian community in Latakia, in churches and communal areas. Armenians all over the world are supporting them, especially European-Armenian communities, which have strong ties to Kessab.

“In Syria, where the largest Armenian community of the Middle East exists, and since the conflict in the country, Armenians are very aware of Turkey’s role in assisting the extremists. For us, Turkey is continuing her genocidal policy against the Armenians, against the Armenian community in Syria. What was not wiped out in the deserts of Syria in 1915 is now being annihilated by the current Turkish state.

“You, Presidents of EU Institutions – the EU, a Nobel peace prize holder – have the authority today to stop Turkey’s aggression against the Armenians of Kessab, and stop the uprooting of a minority group, which already twice has been the target of Turkey’s intolerance. Giving ground, assistance and intelligence for cross-border attacks to Al-Qaeda extremists, to target a civilian population should not be tolerated.

‘In the past, EU countries have given considerable humanitarian aid to Armenians fleeing Ottoman Turkish persecutions. Today, they are being persecuted anew. We urge you to immediately call on Turkey to stop assisting these extremist groups in attacking the Armenian population of the region, and in cooperation with Kristalina Georgieva, EU Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, to direct immediate humanitarian assistance to the displaced population of Kessab, currently sheltered in Latakia. What they need now is assistance and support – until they get on their feet again, and rebuild their villages, something that they already have done twice.

‘Given the urgency of the matter, we are ready to meet you, or other EU senior officials, at any given moment, to discuss matters of humanitarian aid for Kessab residents and Syrian Armenians in general.”

#savekessab An Appeal to All Armenians Across the World from the Armenians of Kessab

March 27, 2014 By administrator

LATAKIA, Syria—The Armenians of Kessab, having fled from attacks by militant extremists from Turkey and currently living in refuge in Latakia, have issued an appeal addressed to all Armenians across the world. The full text of the letter is below.

“On Mother’s Day, March 21, 2014, our beautiful town was brutally attacked by Al-Qaeda linked extremists, with the blessings and full military and logistical support of the Turkish government.

“Before sunrise, we woke up to the horror of a shower of missiles and rockets falling on our town. Thousands of extremists crossed the borders towards our town. Missiles were fired from Turkey to destroy beautiful Kessab and to celebrate the approach of the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. Kessabtsi heroes defended the town with their simple hunting weapons until more forces from the Syrian government came to fight back the horrific attack on our town. If Kessabtsis were not informed to leave their houses by those heroes, the world would have silently witnessed yet another genocide and stood by while the media gave them yet another version of lies.

“Kessab has always been home to thousands of Armenians for centuries. The first agonizing tragedy in Kessab happened in April 1909, when a rabble of thousands of Turkish men attacked Kessab, robbing and burning houses. 161 Armenians were killed in this brutal attack. In 1915, during the Armenian genocide, Turkish troops came into Kessab and started deporting Armenians and killed almost 5000 Armenian people from Kessab. The Armenian genocide at the hands of the Turks in 1915 took the lives of one and a half million Armenians. More Armenians are getting killed and will get killed in Syria if nothing is done. The Arabs in Syria took us in then, took care of us, helped us back on our feet and helped us survive through that horrible memory of death and destruction and we will be eternally grateful to them. Since then we lived in peace and harmony with other sects, like a huge family in a home called Syria.

“Today, we need help once again, because sadly the Turkish government dared to attack Armenians one more time ignoring the Armenian case. With this act Turkey has refused, yet again, to recognize the Armenian genocide at the hands of the Turks and is assisting in the murder of more Armenians in Syria. We have nothing against the Turkish people. We have lived as neighbors with them and want to continue to live as neighbors with them. It is the Turkish government, supporting and facilitating the murder of Kessabtsis by terrorists, that we plea against. We just want our town back, or what remains of it. We are heartbroken by the numerous videos and photographs that show how those extremists are destroying and burning our beautiful town. All Syrians know that wherever those extremists get in, only death and destruction is left behind.

“Our homes have been taken from us, centuries of our heritage has been destroyed.

“This is a call to all Armenians. This is a call to humanity. The world needs to hear the truth. Erdogan and his government are war criminals. We need your help. We need you to take action. Our lives depend on the chance that you will do something to make sure we too don’t die. We were forced out of our homes and our town with nothing but the clothes we wear. If we stayed to gather even the bare necessities, we would have definitely died. Most of us cannot even escape because we don’t have our passports or documents of identification. Please, invoke the intervention of your governments, of the UN, of any other authority that you believe can help us. All we want to do is live. If you ignore this, we all will die a horrible death at the hands of these terrorists, by being butchered in cold blood like many other Armenians in Aleppo, Yacoubiyeh, Ghenemiyeh, and around Syria.

“Those who you call rebels are extremists who came to Syria for jihad with many nationalities amongst them like Afghans, Chechens, and Saudis. Kessabtsis and all of Syria saw them and were attacked and killed by them. The media can’t hide the truth forever. Those who you call rebels were targeting and attacking civilians.

“Don’t you think enough innocent blood has been spilled? Don’t you think enough destruction has been done? We all lived peacefully and happily just three years ago. This is not a revolution, this is war. And the Syrian army is now in Kessab fighting to make sure Armenians will go back to their homes safely.”

Armenia MPs meet with Syria president and parliament leader #savekessab

March 27, 2014 By administrator

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.

Latakia Offensive Stirs Dark Memories for Armenian-Syrians

March 27, 2014 By administrator

By Maria Abi Habib The Wall Street Journal

When hardline Islamist rebels took over swaths of Latakia province this week, it provided them with their first outpost on the Mediterranean Sea.

The military offensive was symbolic for several reasons: rebels from al Nusra Front taking over northern parts of Bashar al Assad’s hometown province while the Turkish air force shot down a regime war plane trying to bombard the rebel advancement, as it flew near their shared border. Nusra is al Qaeda’s sanctioned offshoot in Syria.

But for Armenian-Syrians from the town of Kassab in Latakia, which rebels overran this weekend, the Turkish involvement reminded them of a dark chapter in their history: the Armenian genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman empire in 1915. The Turks bristle at the term genocide, although 1.5 million Armenians died at the hands of Ottoman forces.

For many of Kassab’s Armenian-Syrians, the Nusra Front occupies one side of the same coin the Turks do as well – an existential threat in a war where initial concepts like freedom and democracy have been sidelined by minorities’ concerns, steeped in thousand-year-old memories of past injustices perpetrated across the region. Better the devil you know, than the one you don’t, is the common Christian refrain.

Armenian-Syrians expressed outrage Sunday over radical Islamist rebels taking over Kassab, which they said would threaten the town’s Christian inhabitants, many supporters of President Bashar al Assad’s forces. Kassab residents cheered on Damascus in the fight against rebels this weekend, believing the alliance with Mr. Assad — an Alawite, another religious minority — a safer bet to protect their interests.

Armenian-Syrians blamed Turkey for rebel advances in Kassab — as Ankara has long turned a blind eye to rebels crossing their borders and weapons flows — and equated a win by Nusra with the Armenian genocide.

When Ankara shot down the Syrian war plane, it was too much for Kassab’s residents. They claimed an old foe – Turkey – was conspiring against them by allying with a new enemy – Sunni Muslim extremist groups like Nusra.

“The Turks are [working against] us again. This is unacceptable considering history. Genocide repeat [in] Kassab,” said one Twitter user from the town, in sentiments shared by many other Syrian-Armenians on the social networking site. “What a bad day this has been. God bless everyone who is defending the beautiful village of Kassab.”

Turkey has denied it supports extremist rebels and said it shot down the Syrian war plane to protect its territory.

The Free Syrian Army has struggled to convince minorities that they will protect them, as some al Qaeda breakaway factions like the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham impose a hard-line version of Islam on territory they capture and have even vandalized churches. The more secular FSA is backed by Western and Gulf states and recently turned their guns on ISIS.

Kassab is the last Syrian-Turkish border crossing in the government’s hands, according to rebels. The ancient town of Kassab features steep mountains dropping into the Mediterranean’s crystal blue waters, stone houses next to quaint churches hundreds of years old.

“The people of Kassab are kicked out of their houses and living in the Armenian church of Latakia [city] where they receive food from the Armenians living there,” said one student from Kassab, who now lives in the U.A.E. but is in touch with family members who recently fled the town.

“The place we used to spend our summer memories has turned into a war zone….the Free Syrian Army is bombing the place while the Syrian Army is doing all they can do to save Kassab…The only positive thing is that the people in Kassab, including my friends and family, escaped just in time. They will surely going to be homeless after the battle.”

#savekessab