Tweet
States News Service
August 31, 2013 Saturday
ETHNIC ARMENIANS IN SYRIA BRACE FOR MISSILE STRIKES
PRAGUE, Czech Republic
The following information was released by Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty:
As the United States and its allies lay plans for what many believe
will be a sustained missile strike inside Syria, the sizable ethnic
Armenian community in that country is bracing for the worst.
Zhirayr Reisian, a spokesman for the Syrian diocese of the Armenian
Apostolic Church, told RFE/RL's Armenian Service that the estimated
100,000 ethnic Syrians in Aleppo were aware of the dangers that could
lie ahead but were trying to continue with normal life.
"After all, we are residents of this city and this country. We are
part of the people of this country," Reisian said. "If something is
going to happen to all, it will also happen to us. If something
happens, we are sure to use our means to be helpful with whatever we
can to anyone who suffers and is in need of help."
Syrian Armenians interviewed by RFE/RL's Armenian Service say they
have begun preparing for possible missile strikes, and many say they
will take shelter in the basement of their buildings, if necessary.
Armenians first arrived en masse in Syria in the early 20th century,
after the Ottoman government uprooted and forced thousands of them out
of what is now Turkey and marched them into the Syrian desert. Aleppo,
in the northwest of the country, soon swelled with fleeing Armenians.
In the decades that followed, the community took root and prospered.
No Way Out
In modern times, ethnic Armenians in Syria have been treated
benevolently by the two successive regimes of Hafez al-Assad and his
son, Bashar. As minorities themselves -- they belong to the Alawite
sect -- the ruling Assad family has long courted Syria's other ethnic
minorities to strengthen their hand against the country's majority
Sunni population.
But the 30-month-old civil war in Syria has exacted a toll on all
Syrians, no matter which side they are on.
"The Armenian community is neutral, but it is concerned, because this
possible strike will be delivered against the whole country and
everyone without exception will suffer," says Zarmik Poghikian, who
works at the Aleppo-based "Gandzasar" magazine.
"Leaders of the Armenian community have urged people to remain
cautious during these days and refrain from attempting to leave the
city, but even if someone wanted to do so, there is no opportunity
anymore, as all roads are closed."
Armenian residents of Aleppo say they couldn't leave if they wanted
to, with roads and airport closed.
Poghikian says the community is not in a state of panic, but even if
it were, fleeing is no longer possible because the roads leading out
of Aleppo are too dangerous and the airport has not been operational
since late last year.
Many Syrian Armenians have already fled. According to Armenian
government data, 6,248 left the country and came to Armenia in the
first six months of 2012.
Now they are worried about families and friends still there. "I keep
asking why they preferred staying there, why did they not leave when
conditions were appropriate for that? What was there?" asks
businessman Raffi Tashchian, who has a daughter in Aleppo. "At least
they could have taken the child out of there. If they wanted to stay
there, they should at least have taken the child to a safe place. I
don't want to imagine my child in such conditions."
'We Don't Need A Second Genocide'
Harutiun Ustakarayan, a Syrian Armenian also in Armenia, says everyone
is hoping the United States and its allies won't launch a military
strike. "Armenians do not believe that America will strike cities, but
they will go down to the basements fearing that chemical weapons could
be used [like in the August 21] sarin gas attack in Damascus," he
says.
READ ALSO: Syrian Civil War -- A Timeline Of Tragedy
The Armenian government is officially neutral in the Syrian civil war
and has not formally evacuated ethnic Armenians from the country.
Eurasianet.com reported last year that the government was allowing
Syrian citizens to obtain Armenian visas at the border and Armenian
passports within Syria, rather than in Yerevan alone.
Some Syrian Armenians, like Ustakarayan, think Armenian officials
should be doing more, now that Western powers have signaled their
readiness to join the battle. He says the situation has parallels to
what happened when as many as 1.5 million Armenians died at Ottoman
hands from during World War I.
"The situation is getting increasingly worse for Armenians. If I were
in a position to decide for the Armenian government, I would have
asked the United States [for help] or ensured in some other way that
[ethnic Armenians] are evacuated from there," Ustakarayan says. "I
don't know how, but evacuated from there somehow, because Armenians
have no fault in this whole war and we don't need a second genocide
within just 100 years."
August 31, 2013 Saturday
ETHNIC ARMENIANS IN SYRIA BRACE FOR MISSILE STRIKES
PRAGUE, Czech Republic
The following information was released by Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty:
As the United States and its allies lay plans for what many believe
will be a sustained missile strike inside Syria, the sizable ethnic
Armenian community in that country is bracing for the worst.
Zhirayr Reisian, a spokesman for the Syrian diocese of the Armenian
Apostolic Church, told RFE/RL's Armenian Service that the estimated
100,000 ethnic Syrians in Aleppo were aware of the dangers that could
lie ahead but were trying to continue with normal life.
"After all, we are residents of this city and this country. We are
part of the people of this country," Reisian said. "If something is
going to happen to all, it will also happen to us. If something
happens, we are sure to use our means to be helpful with whatever we
can to anyone who suffers and is in need of help."
Syrian Armenians interviewed by RFE/RL's Armenian Service say they
have begun preparing for possible missile strikes, and many say they
will take shelter in the basement of their buildings, if necessary.
Armenians first arrived en masse in Syria in the early 20th century,
after the Ottoman government uprooted and forced thousands of them out
of what is now Turkey and marched them into the Syrian desert. Aleppo,
in the northwest of the country, soon swelled with fleeing Armenians.
In the decades that followed, the community took root and prospered.
No Way Out
In modern times, ethnic Armenians in Syria have been treated
benevolently by the two successive regimes of Hafez al-Assad and his
son, Bashar. As minorities themselves -- they belong to the Alawite
sect -- the ruling Assad family has long courted Syria's other ethnic
minorities to strengthen their hand against the country's majority
Sunni population.
But the 30-month-old civil war in Syria has exacted a toll on all
Syrians, no matter which side they are on.
"The Armenian community is neutral, but it is concerned, because this
possible strike will be delivered against the whole country and
everyone without exception will suffer," says Zarmik Poghikian, who
works at the Aleppo-based "Gandzasar" magazine.
"Leaders of the Armenian community have urged people to remain
cautious during these days and refrain from attempting to leave the
city, but even if someone wanted to do so, there is no opportunity
anymore, as all roads are closed."
Armenian residents of Aleppo say they couldn't leave if they wanted
to, with roads and airport closed.
Poghikian says the community is not in a state of panic, but even if
it were, fleeing is no longer possible because the roads leading out
of Aleppo are too dangerous and the airport has not been operational
since late last year.
Many Syrian Armenians have already fled. According to Armenian
government data, 6,248 left the country and came to Armenia in the
first six months of 2012.
Now they are worried about families and friends still there. "I keep
asking why they preferred staying there, why did they not leave when
conditions were appropriate for that? What was there?" asks
businessman Raffi Tashchian, who has a daughter in Aleppo. "At least
they could have taken the child out of there. If they wanted to stay
there, they should at least have taken the child to a safe place. I
don't want to imagine my child in such conditions."
'We Don't Need A Second Genocide'
Harutiun Ustakarayan, a Syrian Armenian also in Armenia, says everyone
is hoping the United States and its allies won't launch a military
strike. "Armenians do not believe that America will strike cities, but
they will go down to the basements fearing that chemical weapons could
be used [like in the August 21] sarin gas attack in Damascus," he
says.
READ ALSO: Syrian Civil War -- A Timeline Of Tragedy
The Armenian government is officially neutral in the Syrian civil war
and has not formally evacuated ethnic Armenians from the country.
Eurasianet.com reported last year that the government was allowing
Syrian citizens to obtain Armenian visas at the border and Armenian
passports within Syria, rather than in Yerevan alone.
Some Syrian Armenians, like Ustakarayan, think Armenian officials
should be doing more, now that Western powers have signaled their
readiness to join the battle. He says the situation has parallels to
what happened when as many as 1.5 million Armenians died at Ottoman
hands from during World War I.
"The situation is getting increasingly worse for Armenians. If I were
in a position to decide for the Armenian government, I would have
asked the United States [for help] or ensured in some other way that
[ethnic Armenians] are evacuated from there," Ustakarayan says. "I
don't know how, but evacuated from there somehow, because Armenians
have no fault in this whole war and we don't need a second genocide
within just 100 years."