critical assesment of what has happend in the ancient Armenian town of Kessab

Hundreds Protest Turkey’s Role in Kessab Attacks

Syria’s armenian villages of kesab targeted by al-qaeda front groups in cross-border attack from Turkey

Russia Condemns Attack on Kessab

The heartbreaking news came quickly – the ethnic Armenian town of Kessab in Syria, one of immense historic significance to Armenians had been taken over by hardline Islamists as residents were forced to flee. Rebels advanced to Bashar Al Assad’s hometown province, but there was more disturbing news – the Turkish air force shot down a regime war plane trying to bombard the rebel advancement by al Nusra Front, al Qaeda’s offshoot in Syria, reported the Wall Street Journal.

The civil war that had plagued the Middle Eastern country for three years had finally caught up to the border. Since it began, over 140,000 civilians have lost their lives, 4 million refugees have emptied the country now enveloped by rubble and death. The mayors of various villages in the area told CivilNet that the city had been destroyed and was now “gone.”

But the tragedy of Kessab has also fallen to another tragedy of sorts – one of the digital world, where misinformation, unverified sources and fake photos have been used to create hysteria and have unfortunately gone viral, under the hashtag “SaveKessab.”

Dissecting Kessab: What is (and Isn’t) Happening in the Historical Armenian Town