Family of Syrian Armenians deported to Turkey from Zvartnots Airport of Yerevan due to "inability" to prove their Armenian origin

By today's decision of the National Security Service of Armenia, an Armenian family from Syria, who have been in the secure zone of Zvartnots Airport for several days, have been deported to Turkey, wherefrom they came to Armenia.

The mass media disseminated the open letter of Mesrop Hendyan, a resident of Germany, whose family became the victim of bureaucratic hurdles at Zvartnots Airport.   

In his letter Hendyan expresses his bewilderment at the fact that his mother and two sisters with their kids were forced to stay at the airport of Yerevan for over 40 hours. "My sisters, though they are Armenians, and my mother, who has been an Armenian's wife for 40 years, have not been granted visas. The Armenian Embassy in Damascus made a special call and sent a letter to confirm that these people belong to the Armenian community of Syria and that they are Armenians. My father - Jean Hendyan and my mother - Laila Miro - are large sponsors of the Armenian community of Syria, they annually
sponsor more than 10 Armenian students and cover their costs", he says. Mesrob Hendyan lives in Germany and every year he takes part in fundraising of the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund and transfers a large amount of money to the Fund.

"My full sisters, who have 5 children, the eldest being 8 years old and the youngest - 9 months old, are among the Armenian captives of the airport. They have been in the transit zone for 50 hours. They are sitting on the benches without any food or water, and they are cold because of the air conditioners", he says in his letter.

Hendyan also points out that his family came from Istanbul to Yerevan without any problems, and the problem arose in Yerevan. "They came from Turkey, not Aleppo, because Aleppo faces a horrible situation now, and to keep the children out of danger, they wanted to get to Armenia via Turkey, and the dishonest Armenians send them back, to the Turks. Even knowing that they were Armenians, the Turks treated them in a more human way than the citizens of Armenia", he says. While Hendyan was writing these words, he was told from the airport that air tickets to Istanbul had already been bought for his
relatives. He says that for the first time he sees that people give money (1400 EUR) for deportation.

For his part, Head of the Press Center of the National Security Service of Armenia Artsvin Baghramyan said that the specified persons were Assyrians by nationality and were trying to cross the state border of Armenia without the relevant documents and permissions. Baghramyan pointed out that they were going to use the territory of Armenia as a transit zone and to get to the third country with the support of illegal migration organizer. He stressed that before the arrival to Armenia, their attempt to get to Europe from Istanbul failed. By the Yerevan-Istanbul flight the specified citizens of Syria were forced to return to the country, wherefrom they had come to Armenia.