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THE BELEAGUERED ARMENIANS OF KESSAB: ONCE AGAIN, IT'S TURKEY
Al-Akhbar , Lebanon
April 16, 2014 Wednesday
by Paul Gadalla
Rebel fighters from the Ansar al-Sham brigade stand in front of an
Armenian church reportedly in the village of Kasab, in the northwestern
Syrian province of Latakia, on April 4, 2014. Rebels launched a
major offensive two weeks ago against several strategic positions
in the heartland of President Bashar al-Assad's clan and his Alawite
sect. (Photo: AFP-Hass News/Ali Nasser) Rebel fighters from the Ansar
al-Sham brigade stand in front of an Armenian church reportedly in the
village of Kasab, in the northwestern Syrian province of Latakia, on
April 4, 2014. Rebels launched a major offensive two weeks ago against
several strategic positions in the heartland of President Bashar
al-Assad's clan and his Alawite sect. (Photo: AFP-Hass News/Ali Nasser)
Latakia - "I did not fail my duty to protect Kessab. My conscience is
clear. Many others failed and were even perhaps complacent, because
they did not expect all this violence," says Johnny, an Armenian
fighter active with the militias assisting the Syrian army. "We
defended ourselves, each defending his home and his land," he adds.
Everyone here fears that Kessab may have been lost for good, like many
Armenian areas occupied by Turkey following the Ottoman-orchestrated
genocide of their Armenian forefathers in 1915. The road to the
old Armenian Church in Latakia passes through the historical city
center and its neighborhoods. Rita, an Armenian nurse sat on a church
pew explaining some of the events seen here since the start of the
anti-regime protests in 2011. As she enters the church, the elderly
women inside greet her with joyful smiles.
Everyone here fears that Kessab may have been lost for good, like many
Armenian areas occupied by Turkey following the Ottoman-orchestrated
genocide of their Armenian forefathers in 1915.
A number of automatic washing machines can be heard operating in
unison in the church's courtyard, not far from clothe lines holding
clothes belonging to children and the elderly. Life is difficult for
Marianna, one such elderly woman, and her neighbors, who left their
hometown with only the clothes on their backs.
Vartan, another pensioner, does not know for sure what happened to
the apple orchard he had planted with his own hands. He is nostalgic
for his orchard and his spacious hometown.
The church is clearly well looked after. The refugees are satisfied
with the kind of care they have received from charities, the church,
and the Red Crescent, as well as the Syrian government, though the
latter has been reproached for failing to properly care for other
non-Armenian refugees.
The enemy is beyond the border
Marianna recalls how she fled Kessab with her husband and son after
they heard intense gunfire. The shells that started falling down
on the town prompted the locals to run to the streets, where they
encountered a few members of the Popular Committees, who helped them
leave the town in cars that drove off at high speeds. Shortly after,
clashes broke out in Kassab's main square.
Marianna says that the stampede that ensued as people scrambled to
flee "was like judgment day." No more than 30 people stayed behind
in the town, because they were too old to run. Marianna says that
she had later learned that the militants took them to Turkey.
"They are treating them well, we are told," says Marianna. She then
starts crying as she recalls what happened to Kevork Gourian, her
22-year-old neighbor. "No one knows what happened to him. They dragged
him with the elderly because he was supposedly wearing old leather
boots. He was the only young person among them," she adds, in tears.
"Crying won't do any good," the elderly woman tells herself. She says
Kassab was paying the price for its stance, and adds, "We would take
the army into account when making food. In the winter, we would even
share with them our firewood. We would feel our spirits lifted when we
saw them pass, because we knew that the enemy was beyond the border,
and that we had no one else but the army."
In total, 450 families have left Kessab. Some rented apartments in
Latakia, while others went to Beirut, according to Georgette. The
forty-something woman along with her sister, brother, and sister-in-law
rent a home in the Owayneh district of Latakia.
She said, "For the past two years, they would send threats to our
young men. Some of them were our neighbors from nearby villages, who
had been displaced to camps in Turkey. Sometimes, they could call homes
in Kessab and say: We are coming, and we are going to take your home."
Georgette believes that the militants finally carried out their
threat. She bitterly wishes that Turkey would have a taste of the
terrible war that the Syrians are enduring.
Her uncle, who was sitting by her side, followed up by saying that the
Armenians were not happy with the detente in Syrian-Turkish relations
prior to the current conflict. Georgette and her family left Kessab
with a number of civilians in boats that travelled from the beach in
the village of al-Samra to al-Basseet, and from there they travelled
by car to Latakia.
Militants aim to take Armenians hostage
Johnny, the Armenian fighter, has a lot to say. There were reports a
week before the attack about plans for an assault on Kessab, Kherbet
Solas, and the summit of al-Nabi Younis. But similar reports had been
received for over two years.
"People were sick of rumors. Some stopped believing them and taking
precautions," Johnny says. He reports that on the night before the
assault, there was a tip about 13 buses carrying 27 militants each
stationed in the Turkish-controlled village of Shinder nearby. "We
asked for help from the villages of Skouran and Sakhra, and managed
to control two out of the seven fronts they attacked us from," he adds.
Johnny's group consisted of 13 fighters that headed to the police
station on the summit of the mountain nearby. There, they were
caught off guard by 120 masked militants concentrated in an area
of no more than one kilometer, before the summit station. Johnny,
after describing the backpacks they were carrying, concludes that
they must have been Turkish special forces.
The driver and two people with him reversed and fled, as they saw
the impossible situation they were in. Ten fighters stayed behind,
facing certain death.
The fighters descended into a valley that was hard to move in. Johnny
and his comrades say they spent 7 hours there under siege, without
any reinforcements, but he says that their presence there delayed
Kessab's fall.
The plan, according to the Armenian fighter, was to take all the
Armenian population of Kessab hostages, with help from Turkey,
to bargain with the Syrian leadership."They took the hills and
posted an overwhelming number of snipers. Reinforcements from the
National Defense Forces (NDF) arrived hours later, and then further
reinforcements came afterwards," says Maurice, another fighter.
According to Maurice, as the battalion of Nabei al-Murr was routed,
confusion reigned, forcing the army to retreat to the town of Nabein
where a number of Syrian military commanders were trapped.
Firmly, the thirty-something man then says, "Were it not for Turkey,
they would never have been able to enter." Maurice stresses that
the Popular Committees, the NDF, and even the security services did
not have the experience and firepower of the Syrian army, especially
as the assault proceeded on 7 fronts simultaneously, scattering the
defending forces.
The plan, according to the Armenian fighter, was to take all the
Armenian population of Kessab hostages, with help from Turkey, to
bargain with the Syrian leadership. However, he says, the Armenian
fighters were able to foil this plot.
The militants who seized Kessab have plundered its homes and farms,
even taking the tractors. Some radical factions mentioned this openly
in their statements. Others criticized what happened, but most had
no qualms with it as "legitimate" spoils of war.
Maurice blames the looting of Kessab on the leader of an armed
opposition group active in the western countryside of Idlib and
northern countryside of Latakia. Meanwhile, Maurice believes that the
reason for the military setback in Kessab is that the 22-km border
needs more than 2,000 troops to protect it. He cites a previous
attempt by the militants, a year ago, to assault the area through
the village of Sakhra, but Syrian troops back then were still strong
enough to repel it.
The man often goes to the frontline in the hills surrounding Kessab,
he tells Al-Akhbar that the army would not need more than a few hours
to retake control of Mount Chalma. However, he says, retaking Mount
al-Nisr, which overlooks Kessab, would take more time, though not
too much time.
Follow Marah Mashi on Twitter @marah_mashi
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.
Marah Mashi
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Al-Akhbar , Lebanon
April 16, 2014 Wednesday
by Paul Gadalla
Rebel fighters from the Ansar al-Sham brigade stand in front of an
Armenian church reportedly in the village of Kasab, in the northwestern
Syrian province of Latakia, on April 4, 2014. Rebels launched a
major offensive two weeks ago against several strategic positions
in the heartland of President Bashar al-Assad's clan and his Alawite
sect. (Photo: AFP-Hass News/Ali Nasser) Rebel fighters from the Ansar
al-Sham brigade stand in front of an Armenian church reportedly in the
village of Kasab, in the northwestern Syrian province of Latakia, on
April 4, 2014. Rebels launched a major offensive two weeks ago against
several strategic positions in the heartland of President Bashar
al-Assad's clan and his Alawite sect. (Photo: AFP-Hass News/Ali Nasser)
Latakia - "I did not fail my duty to protect Kessab. My conscience is
clear. Many others failed and were even perhaps complacent, because
they did not expect all this violence," says Johnny, an Armenian
fighter active with the militias assisting the Syrian army. "We
defended ourselves, each defending his home and his land," he adds.
Everyone here fears that Kessab may have been lost for good, like many
Armenian areas occupied by Turkey following the Ottoman-orchestrated
genocide of their Armenian forefathers in 1915. The road to the
old Armenian Church in Latakia passes through the historical city
center and its neighborhoods. Rita, an Armenian nurse sat on a church
pew explaining some of the events seen here since the start of the
anti-regime protests in 2011. As she enters the church, the elderly
women inside greet her with joyful smiles.
Everyone here fears that Kessab may have been lost for good, like many
Armenian areas occupied by Turkey following the Ottoman-orchestrated
genocide of their Armenian forefathers in 1915.
A number of automatic washing machines can be heard operating in
unison in the church's courtyard, not far from clothe lines holding
clothes belonging to children and the elderly. Life is difficult for
Marianna, one such elderly woman, and her neighbors, who left their
hometown with only the clothes on their backs.
Vartan, another pensioner, does not know for sure what happened to
the apple orchard he had planted with his own hands. He is nostalgic
for his orchard and his spacious hometown.
The church is clearly well looked after. The refugees are satisfied
with the kind of care they have received from charities, the church,
and the Red Crescent, as well as the Syrian government, though the
latter has been reproached for failing to properly care for other
non-Armenian refugees.
The enemy is beyond the border
Marianna recalls how she fled Kessab with her husband and son after
they heard intense gunfire. The shells that started falling down
on the town prompted the locals to run to the streets, where they
encountered a few members of the Popular Committees, who helped them
leave the town in cars that drove off at high speeds. Shortly after,
clashes broke out in Kassab's main square.
Marianna says that the stampede that ensued as people scrambled to
flee "was like judgment day." No more than 30 people stayed behind
in the town, because they were too old to run. Marianna says that
she had later learned that the militants took them to Turkey.
"They are treating them well, we are told," says Marianna. She then
starts crying as she recalls what happened to Kevork Gourian, her
22-year-old neighbor. "No one knows what happened to him. They dragged
him with the elderly because he was supposedly wearing old leather
boots. He was the only young person among them," she adds, in tears.
"Crying won't do any good," the elderly woman tells herself. She says
Kassab was paying the price for its stance, and adds, "We would take
the army into account when making food. In the winter, we would even
share with them our firewood. We would feel our spirits lifted when we
saw them pass, because we knew that the enemy was beyond the border,
and that we had no one else but the army."
In total, 450 families have left Kessab. Some rented apartments in
Latakia, while others went to Beirut, according to Georgette. The
forty-something woman along with her sister, brother, and sister-in-law
rent a home in the Owayneh district of Latakia.
She said, "For the past two years, they would send threats to our
young men. Some of them were our neighbors from nearby villages, who
had been displaced to camps in Turkey. Sometimes, they could call homes
in Kessab and say: We are coming, and we are going to take your home."
Georgette believes that the militants finally carried out their
threat. She bitterly wishes that Turkey would have a taste of the
terrible war that the Syrians are enduring.
Her uncle, who was sitting by her side, followed up by saying that the
Armenians were not happy with the detente in Syrian-Turkish relations
prior to the current conflict. Georgette and her family left Kessab
with a number of civilians in boats that travelled from the beach in
the village of al-Samra to al-Basseet, and from there they travelled
by car to Latakia.
Militants aim to take Armenians hostage
Johnny, the Armenian fighter, has a lot to say. There were reports a
week before the attack about plans for an assault on Kessab, Kherbet
Solas, and the summit of al-Nabi Younis. But similar reports had been
received for over two years.
"People were sick of rumors. Some stopped believing them and taking
precautions," Johnny says. He reports that on the night before the
assault, there was a tip about 13 buses carrying 27 militants each
stationed in the Turkish-controlled village of Shinder nearby. "We
asked for help from the villages of Skouran and Sakhra, and managed
to control two out of the seven fronts they attacked us from," he adds.
Johnny's group consisted of 13 fighters that headed to the police
station on the summit of the mountain nearby. There, they were
caught off guard by 120 masked militants concentrated in an area
of no more than one kilometer, before the summit station. Johnny,
after describing the backpacks they were carrying, concludes that
they must have been Turkish special forces.
The driver and two people with him reversed and fled, as they saw
the impossible situation they were in. Ten fighters stayed behind,
facing certain death.
The fighters descended into a valley that was hard to move in. Johnny
and his comrades say they spent 7 hours there under siege, without
any reinforcements, but he says that their presence there delayed
Kessab's fall.
The plan, according to the Armenian fighter, was to take all the
Armenian population of Kessab hostages, with help from Turkey,
to bargain with the Syrian leadership."They took the hills and
posted an overwhelming number of snipers. Reinforcements from the
National Defense Forces (NDF) arrived hours later, and then further
reinforcements came afterwards," says Maurice, another fighter.
According to Maurice, as the battalion of Nabei al-Murr was routed,
confusion reigned, forcing the army to retreat to the town of Nabein
where a number of Syrian military commanders were trapped.
Firmly, the thirty-something man then says, "Were it not for Turkey,
they would never have been able to enter." Maurice stresses that
the Popular Committees, the NDF, and even the security services did
not have the experience and firepower of the Syrian army, especially
as the assault proceeded on 7 fronts simultaneously, scattering the
defending forces.
The plan, according to the Armenian fighter, was to take all the
Armenian population of Kessab hostages, with help from Turkey, to
bargain with the Syrian leadership. However, he says, the Armenian
fighters were able to foil this plot.
The militants who seized Kessab have plundered its homes and farms,
even taking the tractors. Some radical factions mentioned this openly
in their statements. Others criticized what happened, but most had
no qualms with it as "legitimate" spoils of war.
Maurice blames the looting of Kessab on the leader of an armed
opposition group active in the western countryside of Idlib and
northern countryside of Latakia. Meanwhile, Maurice believes that the
reason for the military setback in Kessab is that the 22-km border
needs more than 2,000 troops to protect it. He cites a previous
attempt by the militants, a year ago, to assault the area through
the village of Sakhra, but Syrian troops back then were still strong
enough to repel it.
The man often goes to the frontline in the hills surrounding Kessab,
he tells Al-Akhbar that the army would not need more than a few hours
to retake control of Mount Chalma. However, he says, retaking Mount
al-Nisr, which overlooks Kessab, would take more time, though not
too much time.
Follow Marah Mashi on Twitter @marah_mashi
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.
Marah Mashi
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress