The Death of the Antiochian
ethnicity in Romaiki Syria.
By Ilias Michail
By Ilias Michail
In 1860, fearing the possibility
of a successful uprising similar to the one in Greece, the ruling Ottomans influenced the local
Muslim population into attacking
the Christian community of present day Syria and Lebanon. There are several reasons for this
assault. The Ottoman powers had been compromised by many outside forces,
such as the imperial powers of Europe and Russia, who wanted
to trash the empire, but not, in a way, that would hurt European interests. By the time of the
attack the Ottoman Empire was called “The sick
man of Europe” due to its demise. When the
massacres, which started in present day Lebanon reached the Christian quarters of Damascus, over 10’000 Antiochians were forced to give
their lives for the crime of simply
being Roum.
The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople of this time was
an Ottoman appointed ruler
over the Rûm-Millet (Governor over the
Eastern Roman Nation). This Patriarch, in turn, was given the right
by the Ottoman Sultan to appoint
the Patriarch of Antioch. The
very same Patriarchate, which
openly opposed the Greek nationalistic movement when Greece broke free from its Ottoman occupation. This was mainly
by the Revolution’s loss of power for the
Phanariote Patriarch over his people. The Phanariots were Greek merchants from Phanar, who had risen
to power in the Ottoman
Empire, and were keen on keeping the power
they had acquired
over their enslaved brethren by slowly corrupting the seat
of Constantinople. It was in the Ecumenical Patriarch’s interest
to appoint a patriarch of
Antioch loyal to himself, and
the Phanariote clan.
The Antiochians were not able to appoint their own Patriarch, a national leader due to Constantinople’s corrupt veto. These
realities, plus the retaliation of the Ottoman authorities for the
liberation of Greece, created
hostility among the now, mainly Arabic-speaking
Antiochians towards the Greeks of the
motherland.
Arabization of the
Antiochians.
Antiochians, knowing they had
no allies in their cause for liberation
(contact with Greece went
through proxy, via the
Ecumenical patriarch), created
a strategically brilliant plan,
at the time, to create a local ally
with whom they would break free from the
Phanariots and Ottoman
rule. Together with moderate and secular
Muslims they perfected an ideology, which had been promoted by the
western Europeans in their attempt
to overthrow the Ottoman
Empire. This simple idea, “Arab Nationalism” defined an
”Arab” as “Arabic speaking person
living in the Middle East” and took no
notion of ethnic or religious preferences.
This master plan proved effective
and with the support of the western
powers, “Arabs” were now rising against Ottoman rule, and creating
a state of “Greater Syria,"
which included the modern day Hatay province,
Lebanon and parts of
Palestine. Russia being a part
of the European powers, with interests in conquering
Constantinople and placing it under Russian, not Greek control,
supported this Arab movement in full and
became the protector
of the Patriarchate of Antioch. Without Russian support, the Arab Nationalist
Patriarch could have never been elected in 1899 (Meletius II).
The Ottoman
alliance with the Axis powers was their final strike, and in the aftermath of WWI
new “Arab” states arouse, Syria, Jordan and Iraq among others. Division among
the Antiochians did not end there. There were several due to the competing
interests from European imperialists, which divided Antiochians into four
different states. Syria, Turkey (Hatay/Alexandretta, even the Cypriots were
originally part of the Antiochian See), Lebanon and Palestine.
The majority of the remaining Antiochian Greeks fled to Syria due to the ongoing Genocide under the swords of the
“Young Turks," Turkish nationalists,
extermination over a million Ottoman Greeks, one and a
half million Armenians, one million Assyrians and Syriacs and other
Christian minorities. Today many
Antiochians in Lebanon and Palestine have already rejected
the Arab ethos, while in
Syria, where martial law has been in effect
since 1963. People do not speak of ethnicity in fear of being seen as opponents
to the ruling Baath party (which is an Arab Nationalistic party)
or targeted as non-Syrians.
In
Turkey, anything opposing Turkish nationalism is considered treason, and the
Antiochian Greeks are often called Christian Arabs or Christian Turks or even
nomads. Occupied Cyprus were a large number of Antiochian live, is still considered
Turkish soil with a Rûm-Millet, although they have already gained sovereignty and
freedom, as an independent Greek State.
Freedom of ethos
The Antiochians
of Lebanon and Palestine are rediscovering their true ethnicity, the Eastern
Roman-Greek ethnicity, and why
should they not? These Asian
Greeks have given the world one of its largest philosophical and religious legacies, the Greek Orthodoxy (Eastern Orthodoxy or
Byzantine Orthodoxy if you
prefer). With the power of the Internet, today, it
is hard to conceal and censor facts,
and the Antiochians of Syria are slowly
reawakening when they find unbiased facts.
They are discovering that their alliance with the Muslims under the Arab movement is failing due to being targets
of groups like Al-Qaeda and
ISIS.
Antiochians
in Syria are not only Greek Orthodox and Melkite Christians, but also Muslims. The
ruling Alawites are nothing more than Islamized Antiochian Greeks, and form a
natural community with the Christian Antiochians. The Alawites have a rich
history as well and need their own “short story”, but should be considered as
full members of the Asian Greek ethnos as the ethnicity is still called in
Arabic (Rûm, means Eastern Roman and is synonym with Asian Greek).
How can Antiochians still be Asian
Greeks and not Turks or Arabs?
Under Arab rule (ca 630 – 1453) Christians were
not to practice their religion
in public, and not allowed to convert Muslims to
Christianity. Christian men were
also not allowed to marry Muslim women. Muslim men were allowed
to marry Christian women, but were forced
to raise their children as
Muslims. These same laws were applied under the Ottoman
Caliphate. The crime of converting a Muslim came with capital punishment. There was, and has always
been a Christian-Arab minority
under the see of Antioch, but these people
should be considered fully integrated with the Greeks of
Antioch. Although, since they
have lived in under the same difficulties,
persecuted by Muslim Arabs, and
today are fully adopting the Hellenic culture. They too
should be accepted as Asian Greeks.
There are also western Arameans and Syriac/Assyrian minorities, but majority have
always been Asian Greeks. The majority of the
Syriacs formed after a schism
in 451. AD their own church
and kept their own ethnos.
Even after Arab and Ottoman occupation, the Antiochian Greek
Church that was given right to act as
the civil court over
its people, never allowing marriages between other Christians from the Levant. If this was
in order to protect the ethnos or theology, only the church
can answer. In later years since, there have been trials
of uniting the different Churches split from the Patriarchate of Antioch, some marriages between the different Christians have been approved.
In the
aftermath of the massacres of 1860 many Antiochians saw no end to the
1500 years of persecution and decided to emigrate.
Many came to the United States, where they could practice their faith under the freedom
of the U.S. constitution. These Antiochians have been described
as such: “Assimilation of early
Syrian immigrants was so successful that
it has become difficult to recognize the ancestors of many
families which have become completely
Americanized." [1] Those who remained
in close connection with
their heritage and married according to church rules have
not become Anglo-Saxons or
Hispanic despite their political views
and linguistical preferences.
They are still Antiochian
Greeks, and so are those who chose
Arab ideology and an Arab mother tongue.
About Author - Ilias Michail is
an Antiochian Greek from Syria, who currently resides in Sweden. He is
Operation Antioch’s official Representative for OA Scandinavia
Sources:
[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_American
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Damascus_(634)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Greek_Orthodox_Patriarchs_of_Antioch
Antioch
A brief history of The Patriarchate of Antioch. Fr. Michel Najim T.L Frazier
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_War_of_Independence
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottoman_Empire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Orthodox_Church_of_Antioch
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phanariotes
