ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Syria’s Christian leaders on Saturday called for an “immediate end” to the violence on the western coast that has left hundreds of people dead and urged reconciliation.
“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,” read a joint statement from three patriarchs of Antioch - Greek Orthodox Patriarch John X, Syriac Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, and Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Youssef Absi.
They called for an “immediate end to these horrific acts” and the “swift creation of conditions conducive to achieving national reconciliation.”
Violence erupted in Alawite-majority areas on Syria’s Mediterranean coast when armed groups, many loyal to ousted president Bashar al-Assad, launched attacks. Damascus responded with heavy force, cracking down on the largest challenge to their newly established rule.
At least 340 Alawite civilians have been killed in documented field executions, and 120 combatant deaths reported among rebels and remnants of the former regime, Rami Abdulrahman, the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told Rudaw on Saturday, estimating that another more than 1,000 people have also been killed.
Interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, in a televised speech on Friday, called on the armed gunmen to surrender.
“By your heinous act of killing those who protect Syria and stay up to serve it, storming hospitals and terrorizing the innocent, you have attacked all Syrian, by doing so, you have committed a great and unforgivable sin, and you have received a response that you cannot bear, so, throw away your weapons and surrender before it is too late,” state media SANA reported him saying.
“We will hunt remnants of the deposed regime, those who refused to do anything but continue in their oppression and tyranny, those who committed crimes against the people, and those who seek to undermine security and civil peace,” he added.
Assad and many who were in his inner circle are Alawites. The Observatory’s Abdulrahman cautioned against using the regime loyalist label.
“We cannot justify killings by claiming that every person killed is a regime loyalist,” he said, noting that among those killed were “opponents of Bashar al-Assad’s regime and former detainees in his prisons” who were executed in their homes.
The violence has drawn condemnation from many corners, including the United Nations, Britain, Iraq, and Iran. Saudi Arabia and Turkey have expressed support for the Syrian authorities.
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