Events in Syria are of some interest for the Armenian academic and analytical circles not only in the aspect of regional and geopolitical changes which will also influence Armenia, but also for the reasons of safety of the Armenian community in Syria.

According to the official data the number of the Armenian community before the Syrian crisis was 100 thousand people. According to non-official data its number was more modest – 60-70 thousand.

Despite its size the Armenian community in Syria is one of the most organized and established communities in the Diaspora. It is considered to be the central community of the Diaspora due to its early formation and geographic proximity to the motherland. Being one of the oldest ethnic groups in Syria, Armenian community could not but express its attitude towards the current crisis. Its stance has two plains of manifestation – practical and theoretical.

1. Political stance of the Armenian community in Syria regarding the Syrian domestic political conflict in practical plain is reduced to the positive neutrality;

2. In the theoretical plain the issue is reduced to the political affiliations of the Armenian community.

Political affiliations of the Armenian community in Syria under the current Syrian crisis throw light on challenges it faces.

Positive neutrality

The managing organizations of the Armenian community till now try to hold it away from the direct involvement in the Syrian crisis. But being the citizens of Syria and inseparable part of the society of this country, the Armenians could not stay indifferent to the events. Correspondingly, the positive neutrality was the optimal approach.

Officially this approach was manifested in the joint statement made by the heads of three Armenian confession communities – head of the Armenian Apostolic Church Bishop Shahan Sarkisian, head of the Berian Dioceses of the Armenian Catholic Church Archbishop Petros Mariatian and head of the Armenian Evangelical community in Syria Rev. Haroutioun Selimian.

The peculiarity of the positive neutrality is that it supposes not only rejection of support of any side in this conflict but it also implies contribution to the settlement of the conflict and setting peace. According to the content of the joint statement of the representatives of the three Armenian churches, the positive neutrality of the Armenian community is Syria under the current Syrian crisis is reduced to the following four points:

1. Staying off the armed conflict. For the Syrian Armenians it is obvious that involvement in the armed conflict on one of the sides will prejudice against them the other side, thus stirring their hostility. And this imperils the security of the Armenian community. Thus, being against the bloodshed and terror, the Armenian community supports neither authorities, nor opposition in this domestic war¹. So, “… all the attempts to mire the Syrian Armenians in the combat actions in Syria are doomed to failure”².

2. Denial of violence. For the Armenian community in Syria the violence in political struggle is unacceptable, especially when it leads to the fratricidal wars and mass distructions and victims. Such an approach is also based on the interests of the Syrian Armenians. Even not being directly mired in the conflict the Armenians in Syria still continue to feel its negative effects. Under the constant fights, explosions, bombardments, anarchy and chaos the Armenian community has suffered considerable losses for recent two years – about 60 people were killed, many wounded, much harm is done to the private (house, stores, etc.) and community (church, school, etc.) property of the Syrian Armenians. Thousands of Armenians (according to some figures about one third of them) left the country.

Therefore, under the current Syrian crisis, “the Armenian community is totally against any atrocity and bloodshed and, undoubtedly, it will continue to deny any violence and military encounters”³.

3. Protection of peace. The Armenians in Syria stand for the protection of the peace and peaceful co-existence of different strata in the Syrian society, which differs in its ethnic, religious and other varieties. Consequently, “…today the Syrian Armenians support the peaceful existence, which had been obtained in Syria for decades”⁴.

4. Supporting dialogue and resolution of the problems by peaceful means. The Armenian community considers dialogue and negotiations as the only key for setting the domestic conflict in Syria. The Syrian Armenians believe that “peace and reconciliation can be set in the country only by means of the dialogue; only dialogue can prove peaceful co-existence of all the communities, based on the principles of tolerance, respect and love”⁵.

On political affiliations of the Armenians in Syria

No matter how hard the managing organizations try to detain the community from being drawn into confrontation and maintain its positive neutrality, it is impossible to fully avoid expression of some political affiliations towards on of the conflicting sides.

The opinion that the Armenian community is of pro-governmental orientation is widespread. This point of view is also based on the fact of the support rendered by the Syrian Armenians to Bashar al Assad at an early stage of the crisis. In 2011 the Syrian Armenians organized a demonstration in support of the ruling regime in Syria.

The circumstance that under the Assads⁶ Syria carried out friendly policy in regard to the national and religious minorities, particularly in regard to the local Armenian community, is mentioned in the media and analytical terrain. Here, besides the appreciation, two other factors are important:

1. Prosperity in the past. Under the Assads the Armenian community in Syria, just like the rest of the Syrian society, lived in stability and prosperity. The Syrian Armenians had security guarantees, exercised civil rights and liberties as well as some privileges of the community life. The Armenian community was the only national minority in Syria which had a right to teach history of Armenia and religion in their native language. Tolerant policy of the Syrian authorities also served as a ground for the economic prosperity and well-being of the Armenian community because in a result of this tolerance “...it has been wonderfully integrated into the Syrian society”⁷.

As a result, the Armenians there saw the main guarantee of their living in that country in preserving the ruling regime⁸.

2. Vague prospects. In case of overthrowing the Assad regime the Syrian Armenians will face the prospect of a vague future which is conditioned by the following factors:

- A possibility of accession to power of the radical Islamists. According to many viewpoints, the “Arab spring” in the Middle East is a result of the rise of the radical Islam. In this case “...the main peculiarity of the processes going on in the Arab world are that the ruling for a long time powers, which had a nationalist orientation, now make room for the Islamist powers, which have very negative attitude towards all the Christian communities living in those countries, including the Armenians”⁹.

As for Syria, according to the expert assessments, political conflict here is gradually transforming into a religious one. It is not excluded that after a possible overthrowing of Bashar al Assad in Syria the radical Islamists may come to power too, because “the powers fighting today against Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria are mostly of radical Islamist orientation”¹⁰.

At this juncture the security of the Armenian community in Syria is menaced because, according to one of the Syrian Armenians who arrived to Armenia, “...all the Christians will be obliged to leave the country”¹¹.

- Turkish factor. Unfolding of the revolution wave in Syria had been accompanied by the permanent deterioration of the Turkish-Syrian relations. The level of tension in the Turkish-Syrian relations allows saying that both countries are on the threshold of war which is, among other facts, also proved by the dislocation of the NATO’s “Patriot” anti-missile defense system at the Turkish-Syrian border.

В этом контексте самым существенным является то, что во внутреннем сирийском кризисе Турция (вместе с Саудовской Аравией и Катаром) поддерживает мятежников. Эта поддержка проявляется:

In this context the most crucial is the fact that in the domestic Syrian crisis Turkey (alongside with Saudi Arabia and Qatar) support the rebels. This support manifests itself in:

1.Armament of the rebels

2.Their financing

3.Their training

According to some data the headquarters of the Free Syrian Army was established in Adana¹².

The victory of the rebels will cause the raise of the political influence of Turkey in both Syria and region in general, because “official Ankara managed to take advantage of the processes going on in the world and in a result the regime, which have warmer relations with Turkey, come to power”¹³, and this is fraught with serious consequences for both Armenia and Armenian community in Syria.

Thus a possible growth of the political influence of Turkey in the Middle East automatically conditions the sympathies of the Armenian community towards Bashar al Assad.

- Experience of other Arab countries. The experience came to prove that the regimes which substituted the old ones in Egypt and Tunisia are no less despotic. As it is said overthrowing of despotism by force brings to a new despotism. And this, as the experience of Egypt proves, is fraught with drawing county into a sustainable instability, because the masses, which overthrew one despot, will have to fight with another one. Prospects of such a scenario in Syria hint that the Assad regime with all of its shortcomings is more preferable than the sustainable instability and disturbance.

Thus, the Armenian community in Syria under the Assad regime had definite guarantees of security and community autonomy, which is more preferable than uncertainty and vague future prospects. At the same time drawing into a military conflict is a serious threat to the security of the Armenian community in Syria. This is the circumstance, which conditions the sympathies of the Syrian Armenians towards the ruling regime in the theoretical plain and positive neutrality in the practical plain.

¹ The Armenian Clergy in Syria Stated that Their Stance in the War is Neutral and they would support neither authorities not the opposition,http://www.aravot.am/2012/09/18/110608/.

² Heads of the Armenian Churches in Syria made a joint statement, http://mardik.am/am/միջազգային/մերձավոր-արևելք/item/147281.

³ Ibid.

⁴ Ibid.

⁵ Ibid.

⁶ In 1970 Hafez al Assad came to power in Syria and after his death in 2000 he was succeeded by his son Bashar al Assad.

⁷ Ruben Safrastyan, The Armenian Community in Syria Fully Supports Current Policy of the Authorities,http://www.panorama.am/am/politics/2011/12/08/safrastyan/.

⁸ Araks Pashayan, The Armenian community in Syria supports Bashar al Assad, http://www.panorama.am/am/politics/2011/06/02/a-pashayan/.

⁹ Ruben Safrastyan, The Armenian Community in Syria Fully Supports Current Policy of the Authorities,http://www.panorama.am/am/politics/2011/12/08/safrastyan/.

¹⁰ Ibid.

¹¹ The Syrian Armenians are concerned by the establishment of “Muslim Brothers” regime in the countryhttp://www.aravot.am/2012/08/29/103791/.

¹² The Armenian community in Syrian will not disappear, http://www.aravot.am/2012/08/06/98122/.

¹³ Ruben Safrastyan, The Armenian Community in Syria Fully Supports Current Policy of the Authoritieshttp://www.panorama.am/am/politics/2011/12/08/safrastyan/

 

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