Ara Keşişyan is an Armenian citizen living in Serêkaniye city of Rojava. His family from Silvan district of Amed (Diyarbakır) fled the Armenian Genocide and settled in Serêkaniye in 1920. He speaks Kurdish and Arabic as well as his mother tongue Armenian.

In Başko village of Silvan, it was only his grandmother of the 70-member family that survived the genocide.

Keşişyan comments that the mentality of the time’s Turkish ruling to change the demography continues with Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan today. He tells; “Erdoğan wants to make the Armenians lose. He wants to send the Armenians away from Qamishlo, Lebanon and Aleppo to Europe. He wants to estrange them from their essence.”

“WE ARE READY TO TAKE UP ARMS FOR AFRIN”

Remarking that the Turkish state’s Afrin attack is an attack on the democratic autonomous system- the living and administration system of peoples- Keşişyan says; “Erdoğan attacks Afrin and Afrin mounts great resistance. We believe that the Afrin resistance will finish off Erdoğan. All of us, young and old alike, are ready to take up arms and defend Afrin. We are glad to have the democratic autonomous system and the YPG. Victory will be ours.”

“REMAINING ARMENIANS WILL ALSO BE KILLED”

Keşişyan invited all Armenians to take sides with the Afrin resistance, saying the following; “Armenians everywhere and their institutions should stand with Afrin. Should Erdoğan reach his goal in Afrin, there will be no Armenians, no Kurds or Christians left on these lands. I am calling on all Armenians to stand with Afrin resistance in every way possible.”