IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLE OF KASSAB, SYRIA; Congressional Record Vol. 160, No. 55

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IN SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLE OF KASSAB, SYRIA

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HON. FRANK R. WOLF

of virginia

in the house of representatives

Friday, April 4, 2014

Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in solidarity with the people of

Kassab, Syria. Their town was overtaken by Islamist rebels late last

month. The town's inhabitants, who are largely Armenian Christians,

have been forced by jihadist rebels to evacuate their homes and seek

refuge in Lebanon and the nearby city of Latakia. I submit an article

which ran in yesterday's Washington Post which paints a deeply

disturbing picture of the events unfolding in Kassab.

This is yet another case of Christians and other religious minorities

being pulled into violent conflicts in the Middle East. Throughout the

region, small and peaceful minority groups are often the first to

suffer collateral damage, as we have seen in recent years not only in

Syria, but also in Iraq, in Egypt, and elsewhere.

It is especially poignant to recognize the people of Kassab at this

time of year, since April 24 is the Genocide Remembrance Day observed

by Armenians around the world to commemorate the atrocities committed

against their people nearly a hundred years ago.

I have advocated for a non-governmental bipartisan Syria Study Group

to bring a fresh approach and possibly creative solutions forward to

address the ongoing conflict in that country. It is inexcusable for the

world to stand by while families are being driven from their homes,

children are being killed and ancient communities' very existence

threatened.

\\\[From the Washington Post, Apr. 2, 2014\\\]

Syrian Armenians, Who Had Been Insulated From War, Forced To Flee After

Rebel Offensive

(By Loveday Morris)

Anjar, Lebanon.--Some fled in their nightclothes, others in

their farming boots straight from the fields. Many thought

they'd be able to return in a few hours but now fear they may

never again.

Until the shells started raining down late last month, the

tiny Syrian village of Kassab and surrounding villages had

been largely sheltered from the three-year-old conflict that

has devastated other parts of Syria. But now the area is the

focus of a rebel offensive in the coastal province of

Latakia, and an accompanying social-media storm of

disinformation.

Kassab, a lush, mountainous idyll abutting the Turkish

border, is an ancestral home of Syria's minority ethnic

Armenians, Christians who have lived on the land for a

millennium. But the attack by jihadist rebels sparked a mass

exodus from Kassab and nearby villages.

The picturesque Armenian hillside villages in the north of

Latakia provide a foothold for a push into the rest of the

province--a heartland of Syria's minority Alawites, who are

largely supportive of President Bashar al-Assad.

The area holds little other strategic value for the

opposition, but the limited gains there have boosted rebel

morale amid a string of defeats elsewhere, with the leader of

the main opposition body, Ahmad al-Jarba, making a rare visit

to Syria this week to tour the area and meet with fighters.

The Armenian diaspora, including some celebrities, has

expressed outrage, demanding that the United States act to

protect the Armenian community in Syria. The State Department

has said it is \\\`\\\`deeply troubled'' by the developments.

Some Syrian government loyalists have launched a propaganda

campaign accusing rebels of mass killings and desecrating

churches in the area, sparking fierce rebuttals from

opposition activists.

But the people of Kassab, like the 7 million others who

have been displaced by the civil war, are focusing on trying

to rebuild their lives after being torn from their land. At

least 30 families have fled to neighboring Lebanon, seeking

refuge in the Armenian village of Anjar and in the capital,

Beirut, and the testimonies of more than a dozen shed some

light on the events surrounding the offensive.

All but about 30 of the area's roughly 2,500 residents fled

within 48 hours of the attack, they said. The fate of those

who remained, who were too old or unwilling to leave, is

unknown, with communications to the villages cut. There was

no major loss of life, they say, with just one known death,

that of a local teacher who was hit in her car by a sniper as

she tried to flee. Still, the mass exodus is particularly

emotional, with Armenians from Kassab having been forced to

leave their homes twice in the past century because of

persecution by the Turks.

The Armenians first fled during the Adana massacre of 1909,

when tens of thousands died at the hands of the Ottomans.

Then, in 1915, as many as 5,000 residents of Kassab died

during the fracturing empire's murderous campaign against the

Armenians, which is widely recognized as a genocide.

\\\`\\\`Now it's 2014, and we are being displaced again,'' said a

41-year-old farmer's wife who arrived in Lebanon a week ago.

Like others fleeing the loyalist area, she spoke on the

condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals if she and her

family return.

\\\`\\\`But thank God that this time there is no massacre,'' she

said. \\\`\\\`We believe that, as Armenians, what doesn't kill you

makes you stronger.''

Once again, the Armenians see the hand of their long-

standing enemy behind their displacement, saying the rebel

attack was launched from Turkish soil. Many of the farms and

homes in what was once a popular tourist spot offer sweeping

views of the Turkish border.

The offensive, they say, began about 5 a.m. on March 21,

with villagers waking to the sound of heavy machine-gun fire,

followed by shelling.

Two Syrian border posts were first struck, according to the

accounts of several residents. With the posts manned only by

lightly armed Syrian border police, residents said there was

little in the way of defense against the push by jihadist

rebel groups, which included the al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-

Nusra and the Islamist Ahrar al-Sham.

Not long after, the main border crossing to Turkey fell,

residents said.

Villagers had prepared evacuation plans. In case of an

attack, instructions were for women and children to

congregate in Nabaeen, a village farthest from the Turkish

border, with a back road to the city of Latakia.

By 7 a.m., one Nabaeen farmer said, about 50 people had

gathered at his house. \\\`\\\`People were crying and yelling that

they had nothing with them. Some were in their slippers and

pajamas,'' he said. \\\`\\\`It was a sad situation.''

Despite the chaos, many grabbed the deeds to their houses--

an instinct, they say, for a people with a history of

displacement. Some of the men stayed behind to see how the

situation developed.

\\\`\\\`We left all our valuables and had nothing more than the

clothes we were wearing,'' said one 40- year-old mother of

three. As the shelling picked up, by 11 a.m. most of the

families had left Nabaeen for the safety of Latakia, 35 miles

south, as Syrian army reinforcements made their way north.

By March 23, the rebels had reached the center of Kassab.

Villagers point to Turkey's shooting down of a Syrian jet

attempting to hit the invading fighters later that day as

further evidence of Turkish support for rebels.

A Turkish diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity

because of the sensitivity of the subject, said that no

rebels are \\\`\\\`deliberately'' allowed to use the Turkish border

and that if there was shelling into Kassab from Turkey on

March 21, it was because of new rules of engagement, which

allow the country's armed forces to retaliate when fired at

to deter further attacks.

Turkey also said that the jet it shot down had strayed into

its airspace.

Jihadist fighters who entered Kassab have gone to great

lengths to stress that they are not desecrating churches or

hurting civilians.

The mother of three said that after she arrived in Latakia

with her children, she called home, and a man who identified

himself as a member of Ja\\\`hat al-Nusra answered.

\\\`\\\`He said, 'Come back, why did you leave your home? We have

come here to protect you,' '' she recalled, though she added

that he later said she should convert to Islam before

returning. \\\`\\\`I pleaded with him, \\\`Eat and drink whatever you

like, but please don't destroy the house.' ''

But Kassab's displaced residents are not convinced by the

jihadists' assurances, and some fear they will never be able

to feel safe

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in the area again, even if the government succeeds in pushing

out the rebels.

One farmer, who sold his car in Latakia to afford the

journey to Lebanon, said his grandmother survived a notorious

death march from the village to the city of Horns during the

genocide but still returned to Kassab.

This time, he's not sure his family will make it back.

\\\`\\\`Our roots are there, everything is there,'' his wife

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