Having been following the Syrian crisis from the very first day, and having lived in Syria for 5 years, one of my worst days was last Monday when two Bishops, my friend Yohanna Ibrahim of the Syrian Orthodox Church and Bishop Boulos Yaziji were reported kidnapped.
The reporting of it was unclear about what happened, and where they had been. It may be that no one really knows, outside of the immediate actors but it is an incident whose uncertainty allows different schools to interpret in wildly different ways.
The position of the Turkish Republic in this narrative should not be ignored. Turkey, as a Muslim state committed to the democratic process rapidly moved from a position of amity with the Syrian government to that of active opponent. It could not accept the violence of the Syrian state against its (mainly Sunni Muslim) people when they demonstrated peacefully in search of a society governed by the rule of law. This rapid about turn put Bashar al Assad and his circle on the offensive, which is the only position they know. It seems that they bought PKK mercenaries to protect pro-government areas in Aleppo, and maybe other areas in the north, thus funding an upsurge in PKK terrorist activity in south-east Turkey. Turkey's response was to work on a resolution of the Turkey/PKK conflict which is developing positively at present. I am not suggesting that the Turkish government is perfect, but its reaction to opposition in this case was negotiation, leading to a happy peace.
Furthermore the Turkish government has seen the Syriac Christian minority in Syria as an opportunity. Despite inconsistent messages about the monastery of Mor Gabriel in southeast Turkey, the government has been relaxed in allowing Syriac Christians to enter Turkey informally, and now has established a refugee camp in Tur Abdin. Tur Abdin is the heartland of the Syriac Christians, and in locating the camp there the Turkish government is making a statement to the Syriacs that they are welcome, and will be protected. Bishop Yohanna must have been aware of this, and whatever he had been doing on the border or in Turkey (which may be unclear) his capture in an area under government control suggests to me that the Syrian government is warning him to stay away from Turkey. This is ironic because Bishop Yohanna has consistently sought reconciliation between the government and its various opponents, and if anything could have been criticised for being too pro-regime.
What should be the reaction of Christians in the West to this?
Firstly there are men of violence on both sides, and the innocent protesters who began this crisis are nowhere to be heard. Bishop Yohanna was consistently seeking negotiation. We should still be encouraging the backers of the two sides, Russia and Iran on the one and Saudi Arabia and Qatar on the other, to stop the arms race and seek a negotiated end to the bloodbath.
Secondly Christians need to recognise that every community has been damaged. Even the Druze, who seem to have remained aloof, will have seen their sons killed in battle as they fought in the army. The destruction of the great Mosque of Aleppo is a terrible symbol of how Sunni Muslims have suffered across Syria, and their culture demolished. Syrian Islam has tended towards the mystical, and Syrians when I lived there generally despised the Saudi version as barbaric and uncultured. That Sufi tradition is under terrible threat as extreme Salafist forms make inroads: Sufis do not have the fanaticism to win battles in the way the Salafists do. Christians flourished in Syria because people got on with their neighbours. The tendency for some western backed charities to fund projects only caring for Christians is one more jab of the bayonet of sectarianism.
Next week is Holy Week for the Orthodox Christians of Syria. Their crucifixion needs Christlike responses, and not the call to arms sought by so many.
No comments:
Post a Comment