An Armenian Syrian pastor, whose family is from Kessab, close to Syria’s northern border with Turkey, has reported that they fled the village after Syrian rebel jihadists took control of the area on March 21.
The Armenian pastor wrote that the day after the al-Qaeda-linked fighters took control, most of the town’s population (some 650 families, over 3000 individuals) fled into the hills or had taken refuge in the coastal city of Latakia, about 50km south of Kessab. Nothing has been heard since from those who remained to guard family properties.
Armenian media sources have claimed 80 Armenians were killed in the assault. The pastor wrote: ‘In taking over control, churches were desecrated, houses pillaged and government buildings destroyed’. Many internally displaced Syrians had already taken refuge in the Kessab area, since it is located in the Alawite-dominated region of Latakia, which has been relatively calm over the past three years.
Churches desecrated
A report by the Religious Liberty Commission of the World Evangelical Alliance said: ‘On March 23, jihadist reinforcements arrived. The remaining Armenians were taken hostage as homes were looted and churches desecrated. That same afternoon, Turkish fighter jets shot down a Syrian Air Force MIG-23 jet that was assisting SAA ground forces in repelling the jihadists’. According to Turkey, the MIG-23 was 1.2km inside Turkish airspace, but Syria denies this.
The downing of the Syrian Airforce plane has been interpreted by local Armenians as complicity by Turkey in the Islamist rebels’ advance, stirring as it does memories of the Armenian genocide by Turkey 100 years ago. Indeed, the pastor wrote: ‘It not only reminds us [of this], this is the continuation of the previous genocide’.
However the Turkish Prime Minister, Tayip Erdogan, said: ‘A Syrian plane violated our airspace. Our F-16s took off and hit this plane. Why? Because if you violate my airspace, our slap after this will be hard’.
The BBC’s James Reynolds says that Turkey has broadly sided with the rebels since their war started in October 2011. Turkey shares an 800-kilometre-long border with Syria.
Turkey has blocked access to YouTube after a video was posted there apparently showing members of its government discussing military tactics linked to the war in Syria.
