March 9, 2025
While the Islamists of HTS of Syria’s interim president Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa also known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Julanin are slaughtering religious minorities, Alawites and Christians alike, the Greek Orthodox and the Catholics in the country are calling for help. Yet the West is ignoring their desperate calls and advises all sides to work together “in the spirit of national unity.”
As many as 1000 people have been killed in an eruption of violence in Latakia and Tartus in the last 48 hours, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, international media reported on Sunday. There are currently no official numbers of the civilian victims men, women, children and babies, but some local human rights groups speak over 2,400 people.
Between March 7 and 8, the @Greco_Levantines World Wide, advocating for Greeks in Antiochia, Syria, reported on social platform X – former Twitter – of the murder of at least 5 Greeks.
Tony Petrus and his son Fadi Petrus, two Antiochian Greeks, were killed today in the pogrom launched by HTS against the mixed Christian and Alawite region. pic.twitter.com/uBLN8CpBwA
— Greco-Levantines World Wide (@GrecoLevantines) March 8, 2025
On March 8, they called for Greece and Cyprus to join the evacuation efforts of Antiochian Greek Christians.
The Greek Antiochian Parish of Latakia is evacuating Antiochian Greeks from the Qirdaha region, where massacres against Alawites are unfolding. We call on Greece and Cyprus to support these efforts.
— Greco-Levantines World Wide (@GrecoLevantines) March 8, 2025
Hours later, the Greek Foreign Ministry posted on social media:
These developments increase the urgency for an inclusive political transition process and securing the protection of all ethnic and religious communities, in the spirit of national unity.
— Υπουργείο Εξωτερικών (@GreeceMFA) March 8, 2025
The Antiochian Greek Christians (also known as Rūm) are an ethnoreligious Eastern Christian group native to the Levant. The majority of its members identify as Arab, and some of the members reject the Arab label, and identify as Greek. They are either members of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch or the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, and they have ancient roots in what is now Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, the southern Turkish province of Hatay, which includes the city of Antakya (ancient Antioch—one of the holiest cities in Eastern Christianity), and Israel.
Joint Statement by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchs in Syria Damascus
8 March 2025
In recent days, #Syria has witnessed a dangerous escalation of violence, brutality, and killings, resulting in attacks on innocent civilians, including women and children. Homes have been violated, their sanctity disregarded, and properties looted—scenes that starkly reflect the immense suffering endured by the Syrian people.
The Christian Churches while strongly condemning any act that threatens civil peace, denounce and condemn the #massacres targeting innocent civilians, and call for an immediate end to these horrific acts, which stand in stark opposition to all human and moral values.
The Churches also call for the swift creation of conditions conducive to achieving national reconciliation among the Syrian people. They urge efforts to establish an environment that facilitates the transition to a state that respects all its citizens and lays the foundation for a society based on equal citizenship and genuine partnership, free from the logic of vengeance and exclusion. At the same time, they reaffirm the unity of Syrian territory and reject any attempts to divide it.
The Churches call on all concerned parties within Syria to assume their responsibilities, put an end to the violence, and seek peaceful solutions that uphold human dignity and preserve national unity. We pray that God may protect Syria and its people and that peace may prevail throughout the land.
JOHN X Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East
MOR IGNATIUS APHREM II Syriac Patriarch of Antioch and All the East Supreme Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church
YOUSSEF ABSI Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and All the East
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