The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has teamed up with Hellenic, Kurdish, Assyrian, Christian human rights, and religious freedom groups to protest Turkey’s President Erdogan at his White House meeting with President Trump, scheduled for Wednesday, November 13.

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) on Tuesday, November 12, called on the White House to bring up the latest ISIS killing of Armenian Catholic Priest Hovsep Petoian and his father, who were traveling from the Syrian town of Qamishli to Der-Zor to review the rebuilding of an Armenian Catholic Church there.

According to news reports, Turkey’s attacks on Kurdish led anti-ISIS defense groups in Syria last month created a vacuum allowing ISIS sleeper cells to reactivate in the region.

“We look to President Trump to publicly press Turkish President Erdogan on Wednesday, November 13, for answers regarding the murder by ISIS militants of a Catholic Armenian priest and his father, in a region of Syria that has fallen increasingly under the control of Ankara’s allies,” the ANCA’s Aram Hamparian stated following news of the murder earlier.

ARMENIAN REPRESENTATIVE TO UN DISCUSSES WITH UN OFFICIAL KILLING OF FR. PETOIAN IN NORTHERN SYRIA

In another development, the permanent representative of Armenia to the United Nations, Mher Margaryan, has met with Adama Dieng , the UN secretary-general's special adviser for the prevention of genocide, during which he referred to the increase of tensions in northeastern Syria, human casualties, and risks to the civilian population.

The Armenian permanent representative emphasized the security risks faced by the Armenian community of Syria and other ethnic and religious minorities, in particular, identity-based crimes and mass atrocities, the Armenian Foreign Ministry informed Armenian News-NEWS.am that.

Drawing the attention of Adama Dieng to the murder of the Armenian pastors Hovsep Petoian and Abraham Petoian from the Syrian city of Qamishli on 11 November, Mher Margaryan condemned that heinous crime, as based on religious and ethnic grounds. The Special Adviser of the UN Secretary-General expressed his condolences on that tragic incident.

During the meeting, the interlocutors underlined the need of intensifying the efforts of international community towards prevention of hate crimes, mass atrocities, and genocide.