Christian factor

Christians have always been an influential part of Syrian society. Despite that they make up just 10% of Syria’s population, Christians have long been among Syria’s elite. They have been represented in many of the political groups which have vied for control of the country, including the secular Arab nationalist and socialist movements which eventually came to the fore. Michel Aflaq, the founder of the Baath Party (which has ruled Syria since 1963) was a Christian, and Christians rose to senior positions in the party, government and security forces, although they are generally not seen to have any real power compared with their Alawite and Sunni colleagues. Christians are believed to have valued the rights and protection granted to them by President Hafez al-Assad and then by his son and successor Bashar al-Assad.

Since the beginning of Syrian crisis Christians have suffered a lot. Thousands have been forced to leave their homes; many of them have been killed or kidnapped. Besides the permanent menace to peace, stability and humanitarian values that goes from ISIS, al-Nusra and other terrorist organisations, these formations constitute a real threat to all Christian community in the Middle East. This threat may be an additional impulse to fight terrorism because, as history shows, religious stability is a key factor of peaceful life in any region.

This subject was also expressed by Theodosios, the Archbishop of Sebastia. Recently he visited Damascus where he had a conversation with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Talking about Palestinian problem the Archbishop pointed out that no one can talk about Palestine without talking about Muslims and Christians together. Also he stressed that similar approach should be seen in the Syrian scenario. He admitted that mutual operation of Hezbollah forces (Muslims) and Russian army (Christians) contributed a lot to fight against terrorism and that their cooperation is able to bring peace back to Syria.

Open dialog, cooperation, trust relations are vital components of stable and steady life in the Middle East. There is no other way to get rid of chaos created by terrorists and those who get benefit from suffer of people.