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Speech of Hon. Frank R. Wolf of Virginia in House of Representatives

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  • Speech of Hon. Frank R. Wolf of Virginia in House of Representatives

    US Official News
    April 5, 2014 Saturday


    Washington: SPEECH OF HON. FRANK R. WOLF OF VIRGINIA IN THE HOUSE OF
    REPRESENTATIVES FRIDAY, APRIL 4, 2014

    Washington

    The Library of Congress, The Government of USA has issued the following Speech:

    Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in solidarity with the people of
    Kassab, Syria. Their town was overtaken by Islamist rebels late last
    month. The town's inhabitants, who are largely Armenian Christians,
    have been forced by jihadist rebels to evacuate their homes and seek
    refuge in Lebanon and the nearby city of Latakia. I submit an article
    which ran in yesterday's Washington Post which paints a deeply
    disturbing picture of the events unfolding in Kassab.

    This is yet another case of Christians and other religious minorities
    being pulled into violent conflicts in the Middle East. Throughout the
    region, small and peaceful minority groups are often the first to
    suffer collateral damage, as we have seen in recent years not only in
    Syria, but also in Iraq, in Egypt, and elsewhere.

    It is especially poignant to recognize the people of Kassab at this
    time of year, since April 24 is the Genocide Remembrance Day observed
    by Armenians around the world to commemorate the atrocities committed
    against their people nearly a hundred years ago.

    I have advocated for a non-governmental bipartisan Syria Study Group
    to bring a fresh approach and possibly creative solutions forward to
    address the ongoing conflict in that country. It is inexcusable for
    the world to stand by while families are being driven from their
    homes, children are being killed and ancient communities' very
    existence threatened. [From the Washington Post, Apr. 2, 2014]

    SYRIAN ARMENIANS, WHO HAD BEEN INSULATED FROM WAR, FORCED TO FLEE
    AFTER REBEL OFFENSIVE
    (By Loveday Morris)

    ANJAR, LEBANON.--Some fled in their nightclothes, others in their
    farming boots straight from the fields. Many thought they'd be able to
    return in a few hours but now fear they may never again.

    Until the shells started raining down late last month, the tiny Syrian
    village of Kassab and surrounding villages had been largely sheltered
    from the three-year-old conflict that has devastated other parts of
    Syria. But now the area is the focus of a rebel offensive in the
    coastal province of Latakia, and an accompanying social-media storm of
    disinformation.

    Kassab, a lush, mountainous idyll abutting the Turkish border, is an
    ancestral home of Syria's minority ethnic Armenians, Christians who
    have lived on the land for a millennium. But the attack by jihadist
    rebels sparked a mass exodus from Kassab and nearby villages.

    The picturesque Armenian hillside villages in the north of Latakia
    provide a foothold for a push into the rest of the province--a
    heartland of Syria's minority Alawites, who are largely supportive of
    President Bashar al-Assad.

    The area holds little other strategic value for the opposition, but
    the limited gains there have boosted rebel morale amid a string of
    defeats elsewhere, with the leader of the main opposition body, Ahmad
    al-Jarba, making a rare visit to Syria this week to tour the area and
    meet with fighters.

    The Armenian diaspora, including some celebrities, has expressed
    outrage, demanding that the United States act to protect the Armenian
    community in Syria. The State Department has said it is ``deeply
    troubled'' by the developments.

    Some Syrian government loyalists have launched a propaganda campaign
    accusing rebels of mass killings and desecrating churches in the area,
    sparking fierce rebuttals from opposition activists.

    But the people of Kassab, like the 7 million others who have been
    displaced by the civil war, are focusing on trying to rebuild their
    lives after being torn from their land. At least 30 families have fled
    to neighboring Lebanon, seeking refuge in the Armenian village of
    Anjar and in the capital, Beirut, and the testimonies of more than a
    dozen shed some light on the events surrounding the offensive.

    All but about 30 of the area's roughly 2,500 residents fled within 48
    hours of the attack, they said. The fate of those who remained, who
    were too old or unwilling to leave, is unknown, with communications to
    the villages cut. There was no major loss of life, they say, with just
    one known death, that of a local teacher who was hit in her car by a
    sniper as she tried to flee. Still, the mass exodus is particularly
    emotional, with Armenians from Kassab having been forced to leave
    their homes twice in the past century because of persecution by the
    Turks.

    The Armenians first fled during the Adana massacre of 1909, when tens
    of thousands died at the hands of the Ottomans.

    Then, in 1915, as many as 5,000 residents of Kassab died during the
    fracturing empire's murderous campaign against the Armenians, which is
    widely recognized as a genocide.

    ``Now it's 2014, and we are being displaced again,'' said a
    41-year-old farmer's wife who arrived in Lebanon a week ago. Like
    others fleeing the loyalist area, she spoke on the condition of
    anonymity for fear of reprisals if she and her family return.

    ``But thank God that this time there is no massacre,'' she said. ``We
    believe that, as Armenians, what doesn't kill you makes you
    stronger.''

    Once again, the Armenians see the hand of their long-standing enemy
    behind their displacement, saying the rebel attack was launched from
    Turkish soil. Many of the farms and homes in what was once a popular
    tourist spot offer sweeping views of the Turkish border.

    The offensive, they say, began about 5 a.m. on March 21, with
    villagers waking to the sound of heavy machine-gun fire, followed by
    shelling.

    Two Syrian border posts were first struck, according to the accounts
    of several residents. With the posts manned only by lightly armed
    Syrian border police, residents said there was little in the way of
    defense against the push by jihadist rebel groups, which included the
    al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamist Ahrar al-Sham.

    Not long after, the main border crossing to Turkey fell, residents said.

    Villagers had prepared evacuation plans. In case of an attack,
    instructions were for women and children to congregate in Nabaeen, a
    village farthest from the Turkish border, with a back road to the city
    of Latakia.

    By 7 a.m., one Nabaeen farmer said, about 50 people had gathered at
    his house. ``People were crying and yelling that they had nothing with
    them. Some were in their slippers and pajamas,'' he said. ``It was a
    sad situation.''

    Despite the chaos, many grabbed the deeds to their houses--an
    instinct, they say, for a people with a history of displacement. Some
    of the men stayed behind to see how the situation developed.

    ``We left all our valuables and had nothing more than the clothes we
    were wearing,'' said one 40- year-old mother of three. As the shelling
    picked up, by 11 a.m. most of the families had left Nabaeen for the
    safety of Latakia, 35 miles south, as Syrian army reinforcements made
    their way north.

    By March 23, the rebels had reached the center of Kassab. Villagers
    point to Turkey's shooting down of a Syrian jet attempting to hit the
    invading fighters later that day as further evidence of Turkish
    support for rebels.

    A Turkish diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of
    the sensitivity of the subject, said that no rebels are
    ``deliberately'' allowed to use the Turkish border and that if there
    was shelling into Kassab from Turkey on March 21, it was because of
    new rules of engagement, which allow the country's armed forces to
    retaliate when fired at to deter further attacks.

    Turkey also said that the jet it shot down had strayed into its airspace.

    Jihadist fighters who entered Kassab have gone to great lengths to
    stress that they are not desecrating churches or hurting civilians.

    The mother of three said that after she arrived in Latakia with her
    children, she called home, and a man who identified himself as a
    member of Ja`hat al-Nusra answered.

    ``He said, 'Come back, why did you leave your home? We have come here
    to protect you,' '' she recalled, though she added that he later said
    she should convert to Islam before returning. ``I pleaded with him,
    `Eat and drink whatever you like, but please don't destroy the house.'
    ''

    But Kassab's displaced residents are not convinced by the jihadists'
    assurances, and some fear they will never be able to feel safe

    [Page: E518] GPO's PDF

    in the area again, even if the government succeeds in pushing out the rebels.

    One farmer, who sold his car in Latakia to afford the journey to
    Lebanon, said his grandmother survived a notorious death march from
    the village to the city of Horns during the genocide but still
    returned to Kassab.

    This time, he's not sure his family will make it back.

    ``Our roots are there, everything is there,'' his wife said, ``but we can't.''

    For more information please visit: http://thomas.loc.gov/




    From: A. Papazian
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