The decree No. 13 issued by the Syrian President is an important and positive decree, representing a step that reflects goodwill on the part of the Syrian government toward the Kurdish component and toward recognizing pluralism in Syria, and toward ending a long era of denial, marginalization, and imposing a single identity on all Syrians. However, this step is not sufficient, and such fateful issues concerning the country’s components must be legalized and enshrined through the Syrian constitution.
In this regard, we in the Syriac Union Party affirm and address the Syrian Presidency and government the necessity of recognizing the existence and rights of the Syriac people in Syria as an indigenous people, recognizing their language, culture, and holidays, and ending the phase of marginalization and injustice to which they have been subjected, despite the fact that they have always been an active component contributing to the building of the Syrian state and its national causes, standing against the Assad regime, father and son, and that our people have paid a heavy price in the struggle to end injustice and tyranny.
Building a new Syria requires recognition of all national and religious components and the creation of a new model in the Middle East for managing diversity within the unity of Syria, land and people, making difference a source of strength for society and the state, rather than a tool for our enemies to entrench division and endless conflicts.
