The Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, recognizing the critical importance of protecting religious freedoms and supporting minorities in the Middle East, has decided to appoint Thessalia Salina Siambos as the Special Representative of the Republic of Cyprus for Religious Freedoms and Protection of Minorities in the Middle East.
Europe maintains a stance of wait-and-see, offering well-wishing statements about a smooth democratic transition and the protection of all national and religious minorities in Syria. This is because the downfall of Assad took European capitals by surprise, and they currently have no access to any of the major players involved in the “great game” that has unfolded.
Turkey's Christian minority is once again being put under pressure. In early January 2020, the Syriac Orthodox Abbot Aho Bilecen and two parishioners were arrested in Tur Abdin in southeastern Turkey. They were released from police custody a few days later, but still other Christians have been arrested. Tur Abdin is a former Christian stronghold. Father Slavomir Dadas, chair of the “Initiative Christlicher Orient” (Initiative for the Christian Orient), spoke with Aid to the Church in Need about the plight of Christians in Turkey: