[ARTICLE] MEP Farantouris on the persecution of Christians in Syria: “Islamists stormed a Church”

Left MEP and member of the Security & Defense Committee, Professor Nikolas Farantouris, once again highlighted the massacres and persecutions of Christians and Alawites in the Eastern Mediterranean country by the Islamist Jolani regime.

Nikolas Farantouris, in a question submitted on Monday morning in Brussels to the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Kaja Kallas, highlighted that “In recent days, alarming images have come again to light, revealing the continued targeting of Christian and other religious communities in Syria by forces and extremists affiliated with the Al-Jolani regime.”

“On Sunday, April 6, Islamist militants stormed the Church of Saint George in the Greek Orthodox town of Budan, doused the pews with gasoline, and placed explosive devices inside. Thankfully, the devices did not detonate,” the MEP continued.

“Additional reports suggest that senior government officials, former members of extremist groups including Al-Qaeda, are supporting terrorist acts, such as the plan currently circulating online to bomb the Roman Catholic Church in Tartous,” he added.

In view of the above, Nikolas Farantouris asks the Vice-President of the European Commission:

• Intervention with the Islamist regime in Damascus to protect threatened communities.
• Deployment of EU observers to document these crimes.
• Humanitarian aid to the coastal regions, with the involvement of Member States.

He concluded his statement by saying, “Europe has a duty to protect the lives and dignity of all people. ”

MEP Nikolas Farantouris traveled to Damascus on March 8-9 at the height of the massacres against Alawites and Christians.

He met with representatives of the Christian and Alawite communities, representatives of other national and religious communities, such as Ismailis and Druze, the Greek Community of Damascus, Greek Orthodox Patriarch John X of Antioch, and government officials from the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

His new question comes following a letter sent by Farantouris to the heads of the European Institutions and his intervention in the Plenary calling for action for the persecuted populations in Syria.

“Christian and other communities with a presence of thousands of years are on the verge of extinction. An Islamist regime is leading Syria into a fundamentalist state and pretends not to control the paramilitaries and the associated gangs that are murdering,” he said last month.

“After I met with Syrian officials, as well as community representatives, it is now clear to me that the transitional government in Damascus is ruling factionally, excluding all other communities and entrenching extremism. It does not intend to proceed with elections as promised,” the MEP added, before calling on the EU to not lift sanctions if the persecution and massacres continue.

Following his visit to Damascus, Farantouris said that at least 7,000 Christians and Alawites were slaughtered on March 7-9 by the Turkish-backed Islamist forces, which has put Christian and other communities “at risk of extinction.”

Source: greekcitytimes.com