YEREVAN. – The attack on Syria’s predominantly Armenian-populated town of Kessab is not solely a matter of the Armenians and the Syrians.  

Armenia coalition government’s junior member Orinats Yerkir (Rule of Law) Party (RLP) Vice-Chairman Mher Shahgeldyan, who is also Secretary of the RLP National Assembly (NA) Faction, stated the aforesaid at Friday’s NA briefings.

“There is a risk of the physical extermination of the residents of that town, and this makes us follow the situation, especially since more than 100,000 refugees from Syria are in Armenia [at present],” he added.

In Shahgeldyan’s words, the Armenian leadership already expressed its concern over the existing situation.  
“The international power centers need to enable, by diplomatic and other means, the refugees to return to their native places,” the RLP MP concluded.

In the early morning on March 21, armed militants from the Jabhat al-Nusra Islamic terrorist group infiltrated into northern Syria’s Latakia Governorate, which is predominantly inhabited by Armenians and Alawites, from four directions. Two large groups of terrorists had launched the attack from Turkey. About 600 Kessab-Armenian families are currently sheltered in Latakia city. On March 23, Turkish fighter planes downed a Syrian military aircraft that was conducting a mission against the Islamic terrorists in Kessab. On Monday, a group of Armenia parliament members headed to Syria to assess the situation in the country.

Photo by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am