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The movement to create a sunni Islamic state on parts of Iraq and Syria has been extremely costly for the Armenian communities in those areas. These terrorists are actually the unofficial hand of Turkey and part of their job is to finish off the Armenian genocide by removing the last remnants of our people along with anyone else who is not like them. This threat is not likely to go away and may pose a threat to Armenia eventually. Here is a story that is typical of what is happening to our communities in this region.
ISLAMIC STATE KILL ARMENIAN MAN IN KOBANE: LAST ARMENIAN FAMILIES FLEE THE CITY
13:23, 01 Jul 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan
Just like their ancestors forced from their homes in 1915-16, the
last Armenian families living in the embattled northern Syrian town
of Kobane have fled after the repeated jihadist attacks - and they
do not intend to go back, according to the Hurriyet Daily News.
Agop Tomasyan, an Armenian from Kobane close to the Turkish border, who
fled his hometown for Turkey around nine months ago when the Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) launched an attack, said the last
eight Armenian families had left Syria for good and would not return.
"There were only eight families left before the ISIL attack [in
October 2014]. All of these families left Kobane after the attack,"
said Tomasyan.
Syrian Kurdish forces expelled ISIL fighters from Kobane on June 27 and
retook full control after three days under siege, after a group of ISIL
militants stormed into the border town. ISIL had also failed to capture
Kobane at the start of 2015 after four months of deadly clashes.
Three Armenian families are currently living at the Turkish Prime
Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) refugee
camp in the Suruc district of Å~^anlıurfa province.
Tomasyan, who belongs to one of the three families in the Suruc refugee
camp, said they had to leave their hometown after ISIL's attack because
they knew that the jihadists would kill them once they learned that
they were Christians.
"We understood that it was time for us to go. We decided to come to
Turkey after a discussion between the last Armenians left. Eventually
we came to Suruc," he said. From Suruc, the eight families had spread
to various other places.
"One family settled in Å~^anlıurfa, another in Hatay, and another in
Aleppo. Two of the families who had passports went to Armenia. The
remaining three families were placed in refugee camps in Suruc,"
Tomasyan said.
He added that they had at one point decided to return to Kobane but
changed their minds after his brother was killed by jihadists in
front of his son's eyes during ISIL's latest attack.
"Before the recent ISIL assault, my brother wanted to return to
Kobane to see how his house and store was. He took his 14-year-old
son with him, but later he was killed by ISIL in front of his son,"
Tomasyan said.
"Kobane is not our homeland anymore."
The 14-year-old Aram Tomasyan, who is Agop Tomasyan's nephew, said
four ISIL members wearing uniforms of the Kurdish People's Defense
Units (YPG) had shot his father on the morning of June 24.
"My father was bleeding from his heart when he fell on the ground.
Despite this he still raised his hand and said, 'Son, run, they
are ISIL.' I ran. If I hadn't run, I would have been shot too,"
the boy said.
The elder Tomasyan said the ancestral roots of Kobane's Armenians could
be traced back to Southern and Central Anatolia, but his ancestors
were exiled during the massacre and deportation of Ottoman Armenians
in 1915-16. They fled to Kobane and settled there to start a new life.
"We had said that we would never leave Kobane, no matter what," said
Tomasyan, adding that they had two churches in the town and lived in
harmony with everyone around them.
ISLAMIC STATE KILL ARMENIAN MAN IN KOBANE: LAST ARMENIAN FAMILIES FLEE THE CITY
13:23, 01 Jul 2015
Siranush Ghazanchyan
Just like their ancestors forced from their homes in 1915-16, the
last Armenian families living in the embattled northern Syrian town
of Kobane have fled after the repeated jihadist attacks - and they
do not intend to go back, according to the Hurriyet Daily News.
Agop Tomasyan, an Armenian from Kobane close to the Turkish border, who
fled his hometown for Turkey around nine months ago when the Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) launched an attack, said the last
eight Armenian families had left Syria for good and would not return.
"There were only eight families left before the ISIL attack [in
October 2014]. All of these families left Kobane after the attack,"
said Tomasyan.
Syrian Kurdish forces expelled ISIL fighters from Kobane on June 27 and
retook full control after three days under siege, after a group of ISIL
militants stormed into the border town. ISIL had also failed to capture
Kobane at the start of 2015 after four months of deadly clashes.
Three Armenian families are currently living at the Turkish Prime
Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) refugee
camp in the Suruc district of Å~^anlıurfa province.
Tomasyan, who belongs to one of the three families in the Suruc refugee
camp, said they had to leave their hometown after ISIL's attack because
they knew that the jihadists would kill them once they learned that
they were Christians.
"We understood that it was time for us to go. We decided to come to
Turkey after a discussion between the last Armenians left. Eventually
we came to Suruc," he said. From Suruc, the eight families had spread
to various other places.
"One family settled in Å~^anlıurfa, another in Hatay, and another in
Aleppo. Two of the families who had passports went to Armenia. The
remaining three families were placed in refugee camps in Suruc,"
Tomasyan said.
He added that they had at one point decided to return to Kobane but
changed their minds after his brother was killed by jihadists in
front of his son's eyes during ISIL's latest attack.
"Before the recent ISIL assault, my brother wanted to return to
Kobane to see how his house and store was. He took his 14-year-old
son with him, but later he was killed by ISIL in front of his son,"
Tomasyan said.
"Kobane is not our homeland anymore."
The 14-year-old Aram Tomasyan, who is Agop Tomasyan's nephew, said
four ISIL members wearing uniforms of the Kurdish People's Defense
Units (YPG) had shot his father on the morning of June 24.
"My father was bleeding from his heart when he fell on the ground.
Despite this he still raised his hand and said, 'Son, run, they
are ISIL.' I ran. If I hadn't run, I would have been shot too,"
the boy said.
The elder Tomasyan said the ancestral roots of Kobane's Armenians could
be traced back to Southern and Central Anatolia, but his ancestors
were exiled during the massacre and deportation of Ottoman Armenians
in 1915-16. They fled to Kobane and settled there to start a new life.
"We had said that we would never leave Kobane, no matter what," said
Tomasyan, adding that they had two churches in the town and lived in
harmony with everyone around them.
