Abandoned Flock: How Post-Regime Syria and Turkish-Backed Forces Enabled the Slaughter of Christians
Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime on December 8, 2024, Syria’s Christian communities—already scarred by a decade of war—have faced escalating violence, intimidation, and systemic discrimination. From the burning of churches and homes in Sweida, to the bombing of St. Elias Church in Damascus, to the murder of Pastor Khaled Mazher and his family, a chilling pattern of religiously motivated violence has emerged.
These assaults highlight both the fragility of Syria’s minorities and the failure of President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s Transitional Government to provide protection or accountability. Meanwhile, Turkey’s support for armed militias implicated in sectarian crimes has compounded the danger.
The crisis has prompted the International Religious Freedom (IRF) Community and the Middle East Working Group to circulate a letter addressed to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, calling for urgent American leadership to safeguard Syria’s minorities and prevent the country from devolving into an Islamist state that subjugates or expels them.
Documented Wave of Violence Since December 2024
December 2024 – Targeting of Religious Symbols
A large Christmas tree in Suqaylabiyah (Hama) was set ablaze on Christmas Eve, sparking protests in Damascus (Kassaa and Bab Touma).
In Maaloula, harassment and attacks on Christian properties accompanied local power shifts.
January 2025 – Confiscations Without Due Process
Christian homes in Mhardeh and Suqaylabiyah were seized and reassigned without judicial oversight, leaving residents dispossessed.
February 2025 – Lingering Fear in the Northeast
On the 10th anniversary of ISIS’s Khabur River assault, Assyrian and Syriac Christians marked the day with fear, noting that insecurity persists despite the group’s defeat.
June 2025 – Mass-Casualty Church Bombing
On June 22, a suicide bomber attacked St. Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus, killing 22–30 and wounding more than 50. Saraya Ansar al-Sunna, an ISIS-linked faction, claimed responsibility.
On June 12, gunfire struck the cross above Homs’s Syriac Orthodox Cathedral of Um al-Zunnar—interpreted as deliberate intimidation.
July 2025 – Sweida Violence and Assassination
On July 15–16, the Greek Catholic Church of St. Michael and 38 Christian homes were torched near Shahba. Some 70 displaced families took refuge in Sweida city.
On July 16, Pastor Khaled Mazher and 12–20 relatives were murdered after repeated death threats.
On July 6, extremist leaflets in Safita called for Christians to be killed, their women enslaved, and their homes looted.
July–August 2025 – Foiled Bomb Plots in Tartous
July 13–16: Security forces intercepted a car bomb carrying 40 kg of explosives outside St. Elias Maronite Church in Tartous.
August 6: Further arrests tied to the same conspiracy were reported.
August 2025 – Massacres in Damascus
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate condemned a “massacre of Christians” following armed assaults that killed worshippers in Christian neighborhoods, calling them “new martyrs.”
Patterns and Failures
Targeting of churches and religious symbols: St. Elias (Damascus/Tartous), St. Michael (Sweida), Um al-Zunnar (Homs).
Open sectarian incitement: Explicit calls for Christian extermination in Safita.
Forced displacement and looting: Sweida attacks uprooted dozens of families; homes seized in Hama and Homs.
Failure of governance: No meaningful accountability from al-Sharaa’s government.
Turkey’s Enabling Role
Turkish-backed factions—including the Sultan Suleiman Shah and Hamza divisions—have been implicated in massacres and displacement campaigns across northern Syria. International monitors and human rights groups have documented their abuses, including torture, looting, and religious persecution. By empowering these militias, Ankara has deepened the plight of Christians and other minorities.
Policy Response: A Letter to Secretary Rubio
The IRF Community and Middle East Working Group warn that Syria is at risk of becoming an Islamist state that marginalizes or expels minorities. Their letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio demands:
Conditioning U.S. sanctions waivers on verifiable reforms and protection of minorities.
Accountability mechanisms to prosecute perpetrators of religious violence.
Constitutional guarantees of equal citizenship regardless of religion.
Decentralization to empower local communities with self-governance and security.
Support for DAANES (Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria) as a pluralistic governance model protecting Christians, Kurds, and others.
Decisive U.S. leadership to secure religious freedom and stabilize Syria.
Conclusion
Syria’s Christians are enduring a perfect storm of extremist violence, state failure, and foreign meddling. From Damascus to Sweida, they have buried their martyrs and watched their sanctuaries burn. Unless urgent international action is taken, their very existence in Syria may vanish—an erasure of a two-thousand-year-old community.
The United States has leverage. It can and must use it—not only to condition sanctions waivers, but to support pluralism and enforce protection for all minorities. The survival of Syria’s Christians, Druze, and Alawites now depends on whether the world acts decisively or stands by as another chapter of sectarian cleansing unfolds.
References
USCIRF (2025). Religious Freedom and U.S. Policy in Post-Assad Syria.
UN Human Rights Council, Independent Commission of Inquiry (2025). Violations Against Alawites, Christians, and Other Civilians.
U.S. Department of Defense (2025). Lead Inspector General Report on Operation Inherent Resolve (Q3).
Syrians for Truth and Justice (2025). A Critical Examination of Syria’s Religious Landscape After the Regime’s Fall.
Human Rights Watch (2025). Abuses and Displacement in Sweida.
Newlines Magazine (2025). Syria’s Christians Are Facing New Fears.
AP News (2025). Christian Leaders Seek Protection Amid Rising Attacks.
Anadolu Agency (2025). Foiled Bomb Plot in Tartous.
Greek Orthodox Patriarchate Statements (2025).
