On behalf of the European Syriac Union, we call upon all Syriac, Assyrian, Chaldean, Aramean, Maronite, and Greek Melkite Christians, as well as all Christian communities across the Middle East, and all people who stand for peace, to unite in solidarity.
For centuries, the wars that have ravaged the Middle East have subjected Christian communities and other religious groups to massacres, forced displacement, and grave violations of human dignity. As a result of wars, crises, genocides, and forced migrations, our people have been torn apart, scattered, and have suffered immense losses. In particular, during the 1915 Genocide, hundreds of thousands of our people were murdered, and many were forcibly compelled to abandon their faith and severed from their cultural and moral values.
Today, the Middle East once again stands on the brink of a major war and is passing through a ring of fire. Our people are therefore confronted with new dangers, threats, and potential catastrophes. This reality compels Christians to stand by one another and to jointly build a shared future. Due to the racist, religiously extremist, sectarian, and exclusionary policies pursued by dominant powers in the region, our people and Christians as a whole have been fragmented into small communities, distanced from their identities, and alienated from their essence. From the Nineveh Plain in Iraq to Syria and Lebanon, and throughout Bethnahrin (Mesopotamia), our people are once again surrounded by a new wave of violence. To ensure that the historical, cultural, and national values entrusted to us by our ancestors do not disappear, this period places historic duties and responsibilities upon us all.
Guided by the philosophy of love and justice of Jesus Christ, by the ancient consciousness of our people, and by the historical legacy carried by Bethnahrin, the only way to ensure the survival of our people is through unity and solidarity. It is time to say “enough” to fragmentation, exile, massacres, denial in all its forms, and the condition of being without status. Political parties, institutions, and churches must come together without delay. Our names, ideas, and methods of struggle may differ, but we are all children of the same people and of our sacred ancestral homeland, Bethnahrin.
For this reason, we call upon all political, religious, cultural, and social institutions and organizations of our people, as well as intellectuals and community leaders, to act together: to defend and represent our identity, to make our voice heard by the international public, and to place our national demands on the agenda of relevant platforms.
Our objectives are:
- To establish a national platform aimed at defining the measures that must be taken in response to the situation arising under these extraordinary circumstances.
- To activate dynamics of solidarity among all segments of our people, both in the homeland and in the diaspora, and to take concrete precautions against the existing threats.
European Syriac Union (ESU)
