YEREVAN, APRIL 4, ARMENPRESS: The Hayastan All-Armenian Fund donated $14,545 to the Armenian Embassy to Syria. The Fund informed Armenpress that the money will be distributed to the Armenian families. The generations of the Armenian Genocide-survivors live in Kessab, who have built Armenian churches, cultural and educational institutions there. Being the last period of the Cilician Kingdom, the area has a great historical value for the Armenians.

Earlier it was reported that the Yerevan State University has transferred 1 million drams to the account opened by the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund to support the Kessab Armenians. The YSU Students’ Council as well transferred 500,000 drams to the account. The Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Armenia Sergo Karapetyan on April 3 transferred his monthly salary to the account opened by the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund to support the Kessab Armenians. The Prime Minister of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan as well donated his salary to the banking account opened to support the Kessab Armenians. The Spokesperson of the Prime Minister of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic Artak Beglaryan made a note in his Twitter blog that this action of Arayik Harutyunyan may serve an example in supporting our compatriots of Kessab.

According to the Armenian Weekly, the armed incursion began on Friday, March 21, 2014 with rebels associated with Al-Qaeda’s al-Nusra Front, Sham al-Islam and Ansar al-Sham crossing the Turkish border and attacking the Armenian civilian population of Kesab. The attackers immediately seized two guard posts overlooking Kesab, including a strategic hill known as Observatory 45 and later took over the border crossing point with Turkey. Snipers targeted the civilian population and launched mortar attacks on the town and the surrounding villages. According to eyewitness accounts, the attackers crossed the Turkish border with Syria openly passing through Turkish military barracks. According to Turkish media reports, the attackers carried their injured back to Turkey for treatment in the town of Yayladagi.

More than 700 Armenian families, the majority of the population of Kesab, were evacuated by the local Armenian community leadership to safer areas in neighboring Basit and Latakia. Ten to fifteen families with relations too elderly to move were either unable to leave or chose to stay in their homes. On Saturday, March 22, Syrian troops launched a counteroffensive in an attempt to regain the border crossing point, eye-witnesses and state media reported. However, on Sunday, March 23, the extremist groups once again entered the town of Kesab, took the remaining Armenian families hostage, desecrated the town’s three Armenian churches, pillaging local residences and occupying the town and surrounding villages. Located in the northwestern corner of Syria, near the border with Turkey, Kesab had, until very recently evaded major battles in the Syrian conflict. The local Armenian population had increased in recently years with the city serving as safe-haven for those fleeing from the war-torn cities of Yacubiye, Rakka and Aleppo.

Hayastan All-Armenian Fund appealed to the Armenians worldwide to support the Kessab Armenians morally and especially materially in these severe days. The executive agency of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund informed Armenpress that a special banking account was opened for that purpose. The donations can be directed to the following bank accounts in ARDSHININVESTBANK:

247010003090 (AMD) 
247010003090/0001 (USD) 
SWIFT: ASHBAM22.