Civilnet
Turkish officials said that the Turkish military shot down a Syrian aircraft. They said the plane had violated Turkish airspace on Turkey, near the Syrian border around the Armenian villages of Kesab.
The incident occurred after nearly 48 hours of attacks on the area of Kesab. Syrian rebels on the Turkish side of the border attacked Kesab, government forces retaliated with both ground and air power, and in the process all the residents of the area -- mostly Armenians -- were forced to evacuate. They took to Latakia, by boat and by road, until the roads were closed. Although there are no reports of casualties, there are countless reports of missing persons.
The Armenian mayors of the various villages reported earlier in the day, Sunday, March 23, that the villages are all empty. “Kesab is gone,” they said, referring to the destruction, and to their own loss.
The involvement of Turkey, in support of the rebels fighting against Bashar Assad’s government, leaves the Armenians stuck in the middle, hostages of a situation in which they are the victims, not the actors. Kesab, for centuries populated by Armenians, has always been a familiar summer retreat for Armenians from around the country. In these years of fighting, it became a safe haven for countless families from Damascus and Aleppo, who sought refuge there.
Syria, today, is divided among the various forces who control specific areas of the country. The rebels have been unable to take or keep the north, or the Syrian seacoast.
This attack from beyond Syria’s borders -- from Turkey to the north -- may be an effort by the rebels to try to reach and take first the north (the area around Kesab), and then the seacoast areas. Turkey made a point of not allowing Syrian planes within a few kilometers of their shared border. The Syrian aircraft that was shot down reinforced that policy. Syria accused the Turkish government of aggression.
This is not the first time that Kesab has been a bone of contention between conflicting sides. Before the start of World War II, in order to prevent Turkey forming an alliance with Germany, the French (who held a mandate over Syria) initiated a referendum, in 1939, to determine the future of Alexandretta, the Sanjak of Iskenderun. By a few dozen votes, it was determined that the entire region would be transferred to Turkey. Musa Ler (or Musa Dagh) and Kesab were part of that region and so they too were to go back to Turkish domination. The residents of Musa Dagh left the region, and only the Vakif village remained Armenian. The residents of Kesab, however, took up arms and fought for nine months to resist the decision to become a part of Turkey. It is said that it was with the mediation of a high-ranking cardinal of the Catholic Church, Cardinal Krikor Aghajanian, who interceded with the Pope, who sought French support to keep Kesab within Syria.
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