Following the assault on Kessab during the weekend, the Executive Committee of the Catholicosate held an extraordinary meeting and moved to help the displaced Armenian population of Kessab and called upon all Armenians to them at this tragic time.

At the conclusion of the meeting, His Holiness Aram I announced that all Armenians whether in Armenia or the Diaspora have decided to help the displaced population of Kessab. He said, “This shows once more our unity as people wherever we are in the world. Turkey is behind the destruction of Kessab and the displacement of its population, and our people should not remain silent but draw the attention of the international community to this new genocidal act of Turkey against our people.”

The Catholicos then announced that for the second time he was sending funds to the emergency committee of the community in Latakia with a group of priests who would also tend to the spiritual needs of the people now living in the Church and school compound in Latakia.