In Lethal Danger: Greeks and other Christians in Syria

by | Dec 30, 2024 | Editorial and Analysis, NP Exclusive

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In Syria, the overthrow of Assad was immediately welcomed by the Greek government, but few know that the fall of Assad puts in lethal danger the minorities of Syria, a significant part of whom have ties to Greece and Cyprus. The danger is due to reprisals by elements of the new regime’s Sunni mercenaries,

The population groups in Syria that have cultural ties to Greece and Cyprus are: a) Orthodox Christians or other denominations speaking Greek, b) Sunni Muslims bilingual speaking Greek, i.e. the Cretan dialect, and Arabic, and c) Arabic-speaking Christians who have partly used Greek as the language of worship in their churches and constitute 10% of the Syrian population. In short, in Syria today there are populations that present one of the two basic characteristics of modern Modern Greek, i.e. the Greek language and the Christian Orthodox religion”.

The Greek citizens who are in Syria are estimated at approximately 1,200. After the Asia Minor Catastrophe, they were estimated at approximately 5,000. The population of Greek origin in Syria is mainly concentrated in the two largest cities of the country, Damascus and Aleppo, and in the Hamediyeh (or Hamidiyeh) region in the southern part of the country, where the so-called Syro-Cretans or Turko-Cretans are found.

Damascus has hosted an organized Greek community since 1913, with a community Greek-language school maintained by visiting teachers from Greece. There is also a Greek-Syrian population in Aleppo as well as smaller communities in Latakia, Tartous and Homs.

The Syro-Cretans or Turkocretans are a significant number of Greek Muslims, approximately 30,000, of Cretan origin who have lived in the border region of Syria and Lebanon since the last years of the Ottoman Sultanate. The Muslims were settled there by Sultan Abdul Hamid II after the Greco-Turkish War of 1897–98. The most important Cretan-Muslim village in Syria is Hamidiye, where many of its inhabitants continue to speak the Cretan dialect as their first language.

As is the case with most minorities in Syria, most Syrian Orthodox Christians speak only Arabic along with a foreign language taught in school, such as French or English. However, some have a working or rudimentary knowledge of Greek, for liturgical purposes, as well as among older people, especially first and second generation, individuals.

Today in Syria, Hellenism has an important cultural diplomacy base, the Greeks and other Orthodox populations of the country, who are, however, in mortal danger due to the overthrow of the Assad regime that protected them for 54 years. At this moment, it is a demand and an imperative need for Greece and the US to protect these populations by ensuring their stay in Syria and not by transferring them to Greece, as in the latter case Greece would lose a crucial friendly population in the Middle East.

In this regard, the role of Greek expatriates in the US is important and initiatives must be taken immediately to protect fellow compatriots and co-religionists in Syria.

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Dr. Evangelos Venetis is an expert on Islam and the Middle East. Visit his website here.

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