Govt calls for release of Syrian Orthodox archbishops

The Greek Orthodox archbishop of Aleppo, Paul Yazigi

23/4/13

Concern after the kidnapping of Greek Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox archbishops of Aleppo, Paul Yazigi and Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim, on the road to Aleppo from the rebel-held Bab al Hawa crossing with Turkey.

The Greek government has called for the release of two Syrian bishops kidnapped on Monday by armed rebels in the northern province of Aleppo.

The Greek Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox archbishops of Aleppo, Paul Yazigi and Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim, were seized by “a terrorist group” in the village of Kfar Dael as they were “carrying out humanitarian work”, Syria’s official new agency Sana said.

A Syriac member of the opposition Syrian National Coalition, Abdulahad Steifo, said the men had been kidnapped on the road to Aleppo from the rebel-held Bab al Hawa crossing with Turkey.

In Athens, the foreign ministry has set up a crisis management team to work for the clerics’ release.

Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos, in Brussels for a Nato meeting, expressed the support of the Greek government to the patriarch of Antioch, John X, who heads the Greek Orthodox church in Syria.

He also requested the help of the European External Action Service, which coordinates EU foreign policy, to secure the bishops’ release.

Avramopoulos also called the new caretaker leader of the Syrian National Coalition, veteran dissident George Sabra, about the abduction.

Born in Lattakya in Syria, Archbishop Paul holds a doctoral degree from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Christians make up less than 10 percent of the Syria’s 23 million people and, like other religious minorities, many have been wary of the mainly Sunni Muslim uprising against Assad, whose Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam.

Writing in January, Yazigi said was important that the uprisings known as the “Arab Spring” should not jeopardise centuries of religious diversity in the Middle East.

“What is the spring without the diversity and richness of colours in comparison with the haze…of winter? Diversity is richness while monochromatic uniformity is a ticking bomb that kills its owner,” he said.

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