Christian clergymen: Ottoman Massacres against Armenians will be repeated unless international community stops the extremists

Kobani –North-Press Agency
Fayad Muhammad

The cities of Sere-Kaniye (Ras al-Ain), Tal Abyad (Gre-Spi) and Afrin have witnessed a large wave of displacement, including the Christian component, due to the Turkish military attacks, amid fears of shelling and massacres on the civilians, as they live in difficult conditions in the areas of displacement after they left their homes. Around 700 Christian families from Ras al-Ain, Tal Abyad and Afrin have arrived in Kobani, in northern Syria.

Firas, a cleric at Kobani church of (al-Ekhowa) told North-Press that the Turkish military attacks and its affiliated armed opposition groups have left residents with great fear which led them to be displaced from their areas, as those armed groups target all components.

Firas added that like they had seen scenes of destruction of churches in Afrin, the same thing is repeated in northeastern Syria now, and noted that "in the past, ISIS destroyed churches and converted them into prisons, and now these extremist groups would do the same," he said.

"If these militants are not stopped, millions of people will be killed again," he added, recalling the massacres committed by the Ottomans against Armenians, Assyrians and Greeks in 1915, where nearly two million people and children were killed. He pointed out: "The Christians established churches in the areas of north and eastern Syria again, and continued their lives here."

Moreover, he mentioned the demographic change sought by Turkey and the affiliated armed opposition groups, as many Christian families were displaced from Afrin, some of whom were killed, while "genocide is taking place again, against the people of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain, by displacing its inhabitants and the control of terrorists on their houses and looting everything," Firas added.

Furthermore, Firas noted that the Church of al-Ekhowa (Fraternity) is also in danger, because it is close to the Turkish border, stressing their fears of attacks and threats, which led them to evacuate their place, saying: "danger is posed to all components, not only to the Kurds."

He stressed that several churches have been established previously as a result of the state of living in peace and brotherhood with the Kurds and Arabs, and appealed to the world to put an end to these threats and attacks.

"The world should never forget the hundreds of thousands of Armenians who were killed by the Ottoman Turks, as the massacre wasn't recognized. If this happens again it will be a crime and a great injustice against us," clergyman Firas concluded.