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Armenians in Syria, After the Conflict

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  • Armenians in Syria, After the Conflict

    Al-Akhbar English, Lebanon
    February 8, 2014 Saturday

    Armenians in Syria, After the Conflict

    Racha Abi Haidar


    "Integration not fusion," has been the slogan of the Armenian diaspora
    since being the target of genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire
    nearly a century ago. But since the start of the Syrian conflict, the
    Armenian community in Syria has felt increasingly patriotic, despite
    the fact that the fighting has displaced thousands of them.

    "I feel both envious and proud when I see the Syrian diplomatic
    delegation. I wish I could get the chance in the future to defend my
    country with my words and my mind. Our Syria deserves our utmost love,
    diligence, and sacrifice," wrote Syrian-Armenian activist Kivork
    Almasian, 27, commenting on the Geneva II talks on his Facebook page.

    In May 2011, Harut, 25, Kivork's brother, was kidnapped with his
    girlfriend by Liwaa al-Tawhid, which contacted his family to demand a
    ransom of $40,000. The family convinced the kidnappers to bring the
    figure down to $12,000.

    Kivork said, "The massacre we face today is similar to the one our
    ancestors suffered at the hands of the Turks."Harut and Kivork's
    father went to the al-Dan region in Idlib to pay the ransom and get
    his son back. Harut had been tortured, both physically and
    psychologically, according to Kivork. The family then left to Lebanon.

    Kivork holds a degree in political science. He has been visiting
    Damascus more and more frequently. He certainly does not want to stay
    in Beirut, and has hopes of returning to his hometown of Aleppo soon.

    Three years into the Syrian crisis, Armenians of different
    denominations - Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical - have received
    their "fair" share of suffering, murder, kidnapping, and displacement
    because of the conflict, just like the rest of the Syrians.

    But the Armenians also discovered that Syria is their home rather than
    their "host country." In truth, the Turkish involvement in the Syrian
    war has reinforced this sentiment. Kivork said, "The massacre we face
    today is similar to the one our ancestors suffered at the hands of the
    Turks."

    Kivork said that "integration, not fusion" is a slogan that Armenians
    in the Arab Levant have lived with for decades. However, he argued,
    "The war in Syria has shown that this is not true, because my home is
    Syria and my allegiance is to it."

    He said that many of his friends who fled to Armenia after the war
    could not acclimatize, adding, "We, as Syrians, are different from
    Armenian society. Our culture is different. Even Syrian-Armenian
    students ended up raising the Syrian flag in the schools they went to
    in Armenia."

    The number of Syrian Armenians before the conflict was estimated to be
    80,000, of whom up to 80 percent lived in Aleppo, 10 percent in
    Damascus, and 10 percent in Deir al-Zour, Hassakeh, Qamishli, and
    al-Raqqa. The bloody events, especially in Aleppo, forced them to flee
    to other areas within Syria including Damascus, Latakia, and Tartous,
    or to Lebanon and Armenia.

    Anthony Bardkjian, 24, is continuing his education in Yerevan. He
    said, "I live here like an expatriate. I need time to adjust. Since my
    childhood, I have identified with both Armenia and Syria." Although he
    is not optimistic and does not think things will improve anytime soon,
    especially in Aleppo, he said, "I will return when I feel that the
    danger is gone, because my livelihood, my home, and many other things
    are there."

    Since the outbreak of the war, the Armenian Orthodox Patriarchate of
    Aleppo has been trying to continue its social and humanitarian
    activities, such as caring for orphans, the elderly, and the poor.
    Gerayr Rissian, spokesperson for the Patriarchate, told Al-Akhbar,
    "The schools, universities, culture clubs, and charities are still
    operating, albeit at a smaller pace."

    Rissian refused to characterize the Armenians' exit from Syria as
    "immigration." He said, "We do not think of it this way because the
    majority have left temporarily, and will return as soon as the crisis
    is over." He put the percentage of Armenians displaced at a quarter to
    a third of the total number. Concerning the causes of their flight, he
    said, "Many have lost their businesses. Factories and warehouses in
    the industrial area, al-Midan, al-Arqoub, and Sheikh Maqsoud have been
    completely looted."

    For her part, Maria has not left Damascus since the beginning of the
    conflict. She still teaches at a school in the Syrian capital. She
    said, "I never felt that I had to leave."

    Maria continued, "After this war, Syrian-Armenians felt more Syrian
    than Armenian. Armenian schools remain open; scouts clubs and cultural
    associations are trying to step up their activities, and charities
    continue to supply rations and medical supplies for needy families."

    Meanwhile, like many other historical churches that have been
    ransacked by extremist groups, three Armenian churches have been
    destroyed in Aleppo, Deir al-Zour, and al-Raqqa. Despite their
    relatively small numbers in Syria, Maria said, " Armenians have
    suffered like all other communities in Syria. Many businesspeople and
    industrialists lost their businesses, not to mention the martyrs,
    wounded, abductees, and refugees."

    The war has pushed Armenians to integrate more and more into a society
    that they had already been integrated into. Maria, for instance, is
    involved in relief work with NGOs and relief committees that
    distribute aid to Armenians and others. Moreover, many young Armenians
    have enlisted with the army and the National Defense Forces, in
    addition to popular committees that sprang up in their areas of
    residence to defend their neighborhoods.

    According to an Armenian source, dozens of Armenian soldiers have been
    killed in combat, in addition to many more Armenian civilians who died
    from shelling or sniper fire in Aleppo. According to the same source,
    up to a hundred Armenians have been kidnapped in the Aleppo
    governorate alone; they are still unaccounted for.

    Meanwhile, like many other historical churches that have been
    ransacked by extremist groups, three Armenian churches have been
    destroyed in Aleppo, Deir al-Zour, and al-Raqqa. In the latter case,
    militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) set fire to
    the church and took down the cross from the top of the church tower,
    replacing it with ISIS flags.

    Syrian-Armenians like to emphasize their Syrian identity. They say
    that they have lived in Greater Syria since before Christ. True, their
    numbers increased greatly after the Armenian genocide, but Armenian
    convoys had always passed through Syria, including through areas like
    Deir al-Zour and al-Raqqa.

    Syrian-Armenians have called the area where they now live, near the
    Armenian capital Yerevan, New Aleppo. In effect, it is Armenia that is
    a host country for Syrian-Armenians, pending their return to their
    real home, Syria.

    http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/armenians-syria-after-conflict

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