VP/HR — Attack on the Armenian village of Kessab in Syria

9.4.2014

Question for written answer E-004390-14
to the Commission (Vice-President/High Representative)
Rule 117
Gaston Franco (PPE)

On 21 March 2014, the village of Kessab, which is in the North of Syria close to the Turkish border, came under attack from radical Islamists identified as members of the al‐Nusra Front, which has recently changed its name to al‐Qaeda in the Levant.

This violent incursion claimed 80 civilian victims and led to the exodus of the Armenian population. 670 Armenian families and the majority of Kessab's inhabitants were evacuated to the safer areas of Ras al‐Bassit and Latakia.

Following these tragic events, the President of the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (ANC Europe), Kaspar Karampetian, sent a letter to the President of the Council, Herman Van Rompuy, the President of the Commission, José Manuel Barroso, and the President of Parliament, Martin Schulz, calling on them to condemn these events in the name of the international community.

1. As we approach the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, does the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy plan to condemn the attack on the village of Kessab and to take steps at the European level to protect Syria’s Armenian population?

2. Is the EU engaging in close cooperation with Syria and Turkey in order to shed light on the attack on the Armenian village of Kessab in Syria?

On 15 January 2014, the Commission presented a plan on combating radicalisation and the rise of violent extremists in the EU Member States, which marks a continuation of the strategy to combat radicalisation and recruitment that was launched in 2005.

3. In view of this plan, how does the European Union intend to combat the danger posed by al Qaeda in the Levant?

OJ C 377, 23/10/2014