The last Armenian families living in Kobane fled the northern Syrian town after repeated attacks by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). One of the family members, Hovsep Tomasyan, was killed in front of his 14-year-old son Aram, according to Hurriyet Daily News.
Four ISIS members wearing Kurdish People’s Defense Units (YPG) uniforms shot the 45-year-old father on the morning of June 24, said Aram. “My father was bleeding from his heart when he fell on the ground. Despite this he still raised his hand and said, ‘Son, run, they are ISIS.’ I ran. If I hadn’t run, I would have been shot too,” he explained to reporter Idris Emen.
Emen also spoke to family member Agop Tomasyan in Urfa. Agop fled Kobane for Turkey about nine months ago when ISIS first launched an attack. According to the report, Tomasyan belongs to one of the three Armenian families in the Suruc refugee camp. “We understood that it was time for us to go. We decided to come to Turkey after a discussion between the last Armenians left. Eventually we came to Suruc,” Agop was quoted as saying.
He said, Armenian families currently live at the Turkish Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) refugee camp in the Suruc district of Sanliurfa province. “One family settled in Sanliurfa, another in Hatay, and another in Aleppo. Two of the families who had passports went to Armenia.
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