“Alawites to the grave and Christians to Beirut,” was a chant often heard within the early days of the rebel against Bashar al-Assad, an Alawite, and his government.
Sadly, but perhaps not surprisingly, such sentiments turned to bloodshed over the weekend when over a 1,000 people were reportedly killed in sectarian violence in Latakia. Christians are believed to be among the many dead.
The outbreak of violence allegedly began when pro-Assad forces refused to undergo troops from HTS, the al-Qaeda offshoot which overthrew Assad and formed an interim government.
Greek Orthodox, Syriac Orthodox and Melkite Greek Catholic leaders issued a joint statement condemning the violence: “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 instantaneous end to those 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 many Syrian people.
“They urge efforts to determine an environment that facilitates the transition to a state that respects all its residents and lays the muse for a society based on equal citizenship and real partnership, free from the logic of vengeance and exclusion.”
The leadership of HTS has previously indicated that it would protect the rights of minorities, similar to Christians and Alawites, and early signs suggested they could actually achieve this.
Now nevertheless there are serious concerns about HTS and the role it could have played on this weekend’s massacre. Of the 1,000 killed, not less than 745 were civilians and it is feasible the death toll is actually significantly higher.
Accounts differ as to who exactly was behind the violence. BBC reports indicate that the killers were possibly rogue supporters of the brand new regime and that the violence ceased when the safety services turned up to revive order.
They quoted one local who said, “They were strangers, I am unable to discover their identity or language, but they appeared to be Uzbek or Chechen.
“There were also some Syrians with them but not from the official security. Some civilians also were amongst those that carried out the killing.”
However other sources have claimed that HTS itself will be the wrongdoer. A report by The European Conservative places the blame squarely on HTC forces, who’re also accused of murdering individual Christians in the times prior to the massacre.
One local Christian told the publication, “We are afraid that after they finish with the Alawites, they are going to kill us en masse. After seeing the massacres yesterday, all people listed below are terrified.”
Since HTS took over in December there have been quite a few stories of Christians being harassed, arrested or pressured into following Islamic customs. It stays unclear how much of that is sanctioned by the federal government and the way much is fighters on the bottom taking matters into their very own hands as a result of the shortage of central authority.
One other area of concern is the work on Syria’s recent structure. Leaked information has suggested that the primary article of the structure would require that a Muslim be president.
