ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Patriarch of the Syriac Orthodox Church Mor Ignatius Aphrem II said that he met with the president of the Kurdistan Region on Friday to get some advice about developments in Syria.
President Nechirvan Barzani “is a person who understands the nature of the area there and who knows a lot about Syria. Therefore, we thought it is important to meet him and to exchange views about what is happening in Syria and to get some advice. But also to explain to him the aspirations and concerns of the Syrian people in general, especially in northeast Syria where there is a special situation that also somehow has to be resolved, hopefully peacefully,” the Christian leader told Rudaw after meeting with Barzani on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
The Kurdistan Region Presidency said in a statement that the two “engaged in a dialogue regarding the circumstances of Christians in Iraq and Syria, addressing the difficulties they currently encounter. They also explored ways to enhance initiatives aimed at fostering peace and coexistence among various religious and ethnic groups in the region.”
Mor Ignatius Aphrem II and two other heads of churches in Syria released a joint statement in December demanding that the country’s Christian minority be included in drafting a new constitution following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
The number of Christians in Syria has significantly dwindled since the start of the civil war over a decade ago.
The Patriarch told Rudaw that Christians in Syria want to see a state that is “based on the principle of citizenship, and also a new constitution that represents Syrians and their aspirations.”
Assad was ousted from power in December by a coalition of Islamist armed groups that have established an interim government and begun preparing for a national dialogue about the country’s future. They have said that they will protect the country’s religious and ethnic diversity, but many minority populations remain concerned.
