“The Russian presence here has changed everything.  We feel they have come to save us.  It is a huge difference here.”

“Everyday we hear about another person who has left for Germany, walking through Europe.  Already I have 3 relatives in Germany, and several in Turkey and several in Sweden.  These people were never once mistreated, or threatened.  They simply are “Economic-Migrants”.  They saw all their friends and neighbors leaving for the FREE money offered in Germany, so they followed suit.

So far, no one has received any money, but they are being fed and have a hot shower each day, but they have not received any money or clothes, but they were checked out by a doctor for medical needs.  I am talking about the ones in Germany, they are in Munich.  They are sleeping in a football stadium.  They expect to receive 600 Euros each moth, and they refuse to work.  They all want the free money and free house, but they will not do any manual labor. They are there for the FREEBIES.

Each one of them spent  5,000 Euros to get to Germany.  This means, no one poor left  Syria for Germany.  Only those who have money could afford the trip.  The media portrays the POOR people going, but they poor people are all still here, in a UN camp in Turkey, Jordan or Lebanon.  The people who deserve 600 Euros per month are not ever  going to get it, because they couldn’t afford the trip to Germany.

It is so ironic, to think of all the students here, who studied hard and tried for years to get to Germany to finish up their studies, or get further education or a post graduate degree, and they were always denied any student VISA   by Germany.  Now, those people are in Germany, without any VISA at all.  Nothing make any sense.

Latakia was close to being attacked and over-run by terrorists from Turkey in the Aug 15th to Sept 15th period.  The terrorists were coming in daily non-stop floods  from Turkey.  I was prepared to have to evacuate.  I knew that they wanted the coast to fall, in order to complete their plans.  I could see it happening.

Then, all of a sudden, the Russians arrived.  Now, everyone is happy, hopeful and expecting to gradually defeat the terrorists and reclaim lost areas.

The Russian presence here has changed everything.  We feel they have come to save us.  It is a huge difference here.

Kassab: the place is still a military zone.  There are almost no residents there.  A few people who had summer houses there went up to check on things, but had to come back to Latakia, because there is no electricity there, no phone lines, almost no water, and there are almost no supplies. There is no bread bakery, no meat butcher and no fresh supplies.  The folks who are there are ‘roughing-it’ making do with home grown fruits and veggies.  They probably come down to Latakia to stock up on rice and oil, etc.

My heart is sick over Kassab.  It has never come back, it has never been repaired.  The American Armenian churches claim to have gathered money and sent it to Beirut for Kassab, but not one penny has every actually come to Kassab.

However, things might improve, because I heard on the news that the Russians were bombing the terrorists near Kassab, and their goal was to secure  Kassab and the entire border with Turkey.  We really NEED that.  If Kassab can be secure, then everyone could repair their homes and farms and businesses there.  I lost my own home there, but I can’t repair anything, because the area is not safe.”