State Department Silent on Perpetrators of Terror against Armenian Civilians
BOSTON, Mass.—On April 4, 2014 at 4:00 p.m., Armenian-Americans will gather in front of the Tip O’Neill Federal Building to protest the State Department’s failure to condemn the perpetrators of the invasion and occupation of the Armenian-populated town of Kessab and surrounding villages in northwestern Syria. Turkey facilitated the attack by Al-Qaeda affiliated extremists that included the desecration of churches, looting of homes, and expulsion of 2,000 civilians from their homes just over the Syrian border.
On the morning of March 21st, extremist fighters associated with Al-Qaeda’s al-Nusra Front, Sham al-Islam and Ansar al-Sham crossed the Turkish border and launched a vicious attack, from Turkey, on Kessab. The attackers immediately seized two guard posts and later took over the border crossing point with Turkey. According to eyewitness accounts, the attackers crossed the Turkish border with Syria openly passing through a Turkish military base. Turkish media reported that the attackers carried their injured back to Turkey for treatment in the town of Yayladagi.
Protesters will condemn the hypocrisy displayed by the State Department when it stated that it was “deeply troubled” about the human rights violations occurring but failed to even name the perpetrators. The State Department regularly condemns other governments and rebel groups in the region for human rights abuses, but has remained silent in this case when it is a NATO ally who is complicit in the deaths and destruction by Syrian rebels. The Armenian National Committee of America has called on the Senate and House Intelligence committees to launch an investigation into Turkey’s role in the attacks.
Protesters will call on the U.S. Government to speak clearly and unambiguously in calling on Turkey to cease its support for this invasion and pressure foreign extremists to end their occupation of Kessab. Thousands of Armenians worldwide have taken part in protests against this incursion in Paris, France, Sydney, Australia, Los Angeles, and elsewhere.
For more information regarding the protest and the foreign extremist takeover of Kessab, go to www.anca.org.
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A claim should be presented to the war and genocide crime international criminel court of Rome against Erdogan, Gul, and Dautoghlu for the crimes and destructions and loots in kessab, if the Armenians will not act firmely than it will always happen and continue, stop crying and pledging like women and cowards and act.
We have been protesting for 1915, 1918,1922,1936,1988,1990,for safarov, hrant dink, for maraga, sumgait, baku, kirovabad, now kessab what these protests were usefull too we are becomming like arabs who cry and hope comprehension and protection from those who are behind their drama. We ask recognition from countries that are accomplice, who is behind Turkey? TURKEY WILL NEVER DARE WITHOUT A GREEN LIGHT