Syrian President Ahmad Al Sharaa receives Yohanna Yazigi, Patriarch of the Greek Orthodox, at the People's Palace in Damascus. Photo: Presidency of the Syrian Arab Republic

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Story by Khaled Yacoub Oweis, 18 August 2025

Syria's main Christian religious figure has appealed to President Ahmad Al Shara to take practical measures to protect the sect after violence against the Druze eroded minority support for the new regime, sources said on Sunday.

Mr Al Shara met Yohanna Al Yazigi, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Syria, and "discussed the Church’s role in consolidating and boosting the bonds of citizenship and national unity", official news agency Sana reported.

"The message from the Patriarch was that the rhetoric must be matched by tactics and mechanisms to protect the Christians and integrate them in the new system," the source said.

This includes readmitting Christians into the security apparatus and stopping perceived provocation against them, such as encroachment by HTS loyalists on Christian neighbourhoods.

Since the removal of Assad family rule, new security personnel have all been drawn from the majority Sunni community. Some Christians, however, have been readmitted to administrative roles.

An 11-day HTS-led offensive at the tail end of last year has all but ended 14 years of civil war, in which many Christians and other minorities supported the Assad regime against Sunni rebels. However, sectarian attacks have continued, claiming victims from the country's Alawite minority, the bulk of whom were killed in March and more recently the Druze community of Sweida.