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ARMENIANS DISMAYED AS SYRIAN REBELS SEIZE HISTORIC AREA, PROMPTING RESIDENTS TO FLEE
Kansas City Star
March 28 2014
BADROUSIEH, Syria (AP) -- When hundreds of residents of the
postcard-pretty coastal Syrian village of Kassab fled this week, it
bore historic weight: it was the third time since 1900 that ethnic
Armenians there felt compelled to run for their lives.
They left once at the hands of vengeful Turkish neighbors, and later
because of Ottoman forces. This time it was Syrian rebels storming
into town. It was a heavy blow for the minority community that sees
the town as key to preserving the Armenians' identity in Syria.
Kassab "is a symbol of Armenian history, language and continuity. It's
very symbolic," said Ohannes Geukjian, a political science professor
who writes on contemporary Armenian history and politics. "And so
the fall of Kassab, I consider it the defeat of Armenian identity in
that area."
Rebels seized control of Kassab on Sunday after launching an attack two
days earlier in the coastal Syrian province of Latakia. The fighters
were from an array of conservative and Islamic groups, including the
al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front.
The province has an ancient Armenian presence, but is better known as
a bastion of support for President Bashar Assad. It is his ancestral
home and that of followers of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite
Islam, that he belongs to.
Read more here:
http://www.kansascity.com/2014/03/27/4920021/ap-news-in-brief-at-558-pm-edt.html#storylink=cpy
Kansas City Star
March 28 2014
BADROUSIEH, Syria (AP) -- When hundreds of residents of the
postcard-pretty coastal Syrian village of Kassab fled this week, it
bore historic weight: it was the third time since 1900 that ethnic
Armenians there felt compelled to run for their lives.
They left once at the hands of vengeful Turkish neighbors, and later
because of Ottoman forces. This time it was Syrian rebels storming
into town. It was a heavy blow for the minority community that sees
the town as key to preserving the Armenians' identity in Syria.
Kassab "is a symbol of Armenian history, language and continuity. It's
very symbolic," said Ohannes Geukjian, a political science professor
who writes on contemporary Armenian history and politics. "And so
the fall of Kassab, I consider it the defeat of Armenian identity in
that area."
Rebels seized control of Kassab on Sunday after launching an attack two
days earlier in the coastal Syrian province of Latakia. The fighters
were from an array of conservative and Islamic groups, including the
al-Qaida-affiliated Nusra Front.
The province has an ancient Armenian presence, but is better known as
a bastion of support for President Bashar Assad. It is his ancestral
home and that of followers of the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite
Islam, that he belongs to.
Read more here:
http://www.kansascity.com/2014/03/27/4920021/ap-news-in-brief-at-558-pm-edt.html#storylink=cpy