Condemnation not a solution: Minister of Diaspora expects concrete actions on Kessab

Sona Hakobyan
Public radio of Armenia

The Armenian Ministry of Diaspora hosted the sitting of the inter-departmental commission coordinating the Syrian Armenian issues. The events in Kessab were high on the agenda.

Present at the meeting were members of Parliament Samvel Farmanyan and Tevan Poghosyan, who visited Kessab last week.

Speaking about the impressions from the visit, Farmanyan said every Armenian visiting Latakia will first recall the stories of the Armenian Genocide. Farmanyan outlined the steps that should be taken to assist our compatriots.

“First of all we should use our political and diplomatic levers to inform the world about the impermissible events in Kessab and expect condemning statements,” he said.

As a second step Farmanyan emphasized the material, financial and moral support to Kessab Armenians. He added that serious work should be done on the information field to avoid exaggerated description of the events.

“The evacuation of Kessab Armenias was well organized; all of them are now in Latakia. There are only 30 Armenians in Kessab, unwilling to leave the town, most of them because of age,” the MP said.

Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan said 72 Armenians have been killed as a result of Syrian war, 100 have been wounded, many have been displaced.

“The events in Kessab are really very tragic, and it’s an issue concerning all Armenians. It should serve an impulse for the Armenian nation to unite and continue the struggle on all international platforms,” she said.

Mrs. Hakobyan added that condemnation is not a solution. “Condemnation is a simple statement, after which we should demand concrete steps from international structures,” she noted.