ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A renowned pastor in northeast Syria (Rojava) on Friday said that all of Syria’s ethnic groups, especially Kurds and Christian groups, should help to draft the country’s new constitution following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
"We hope that everyone will receive their national and religious rights, whether it be the Kurds, our Syriac, Assyrian, Chaldean, or Armenian people. This is a rightful demand and we should all have a role in the dialogue committee so that everyone can contribute to writing the new constitution,” Pastor Naeem Youssef, from Rojava’s Derik (al-Malikiyah), told Rudaw’s Nalin Hassan.
“In the new Syria, no component of this country should be marginalized. Otherwise, we will face a tragedy,” he warned.
He highlighted the need to "ensure full citizenship rights for everyone, as well as the right to speak in the Kurdish and Syriac languages. This is a general demand, and I believe it should be included in the new constitution."
A coalition of rebel groups spearheaded by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) overthrew the Bashar al-Assad regime on December 8. They formed a transitional government that claims to protect the rights of all ethnic and religious groups in the country.
Christians are uncertain about their future in a country currently led by Islamists.
"Today we notice that there is joy among the faithful and the people, but with that joy we feel a great deal of anxiety and fear, a fear that we feel as if our future is uncertain," Bishop Armash from Damascus told Rudaw last week.
The number of Christians in Syria has significantly dwindled since the start of the civil war over a decade ago.
The country's transitional authority announced earlier this month that it was suspending the constitution for three months and a committee would be established to propose amendments.
"We hope that everyone will receive their national and religious rights, whether it be the Kurds, our Syriac, Assyrian, Chaldean, or Armenian people. This is a rightful demand and we should all have a role in the dialogue committee so that everyone can contribute to writing the new constitution,” Pastor Naeem Youssef, from Rojava’s Derik (al-Malikiyah), told Rudaw’s Nalin Hassan.
“In the new Syria, no component of this country should be marginalized. Otherwise, we will face a tragedy,” he warned.
He highlighted the need to "ensure full citizenship rights for everyone, as well as the right to speak in the Kurdish and Syriac languages. This is a general demand, and I believe it should be included in the new constitution."
A coalition of rebel groups spearheaded by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) overthrew the Bashar al-Assad regime on December 8. They formed a transitional government that claims to protect the rights of all ethnic and religious groups in the country.
Christians are uncertain about their future in a country currently led by Islamists.
"Today we notice that there is joy among the faithful and the people, but with that joy we feel a great deal of anxiety and fear, a fear that we feel as if our future is uncertain," Bishop Armash from Damascus told Rudaw last week.
The number of Christians in Syria has significantly dwindled since the start of the civil war over a decade ago.
The country's transitional authority announced earlier this month that it was suspending the constitution for three months and a committee would be established to propose amendments.
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