{"id":21619,"date":"2025-04-19T08:13:13","date_gmt":"2025-04-19T08:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/?p=21619"},"modified":"2025-04-19T08:13:13","modified_gmt":"2025-04-19T08:13:13","slug":"religious-slaughter-in-syria-shows-need-for-us-europe-to-keep-a-close-eye-on-islamist-regime-greek-fm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/19\/religious-slaughter-in-syria-shows-need-for-us-europe-to-keep-a-close-eye-on-islamist-regime-greek-fm\/","title":{"rendered":"Religious slaughter in Syria shows need for US, Europe to ‘keep a close eye’ on Islamist regime: Greek FM"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Greek foreign minister warns Europe, US to keep a close eye on Syria regime<\/a><\/h4>\n

Greek Foreign Minister Giorgios Gerapetritis warned the U.S. to keep a close eye on the new Syrian regime, expressed concerns about Turkish incursions and boasted of Greece’s new alliance with India as a way to counter China.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

With hundreds left dead over the weekend under Syria\u2019s new regime, Greek Foreign Minister Giorigios Gerapetritis warned Europe and the U.S. to “keep a close eye” on the ruling Islamist group that is working to gain acceptance by the West.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Syria contains a sizable population of Orthodox Christians<\/a>, and Gerapetritis insisted the international community demand religious minorities be included in governance, or else leave sanctions in place.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“All ethnic and religious minorities should be included in the governance, rule of law,” he told Fox News Digital in an interview conducted last week prior to the weekend’s violence.<\/p>\n

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“The release of sanctions should take place mostly on a gradual basis. We need to see how it goes,” he went on, adding that any lifting of sanctions should be “reversible.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

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EUROPE MUST LEAD ON UKRAINIAN SECURITY GUARANTEES, GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS: ‘WE ARE THE NEIGHBORS’<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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Giorgios Gerapetritis and Secretary of State Marco Rubio met in Washington, D.C., late last month.<\/span> (Ting Shen\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“It is of the utmost importance that the U.S. and Europe<\/a> are keeping a close eye on Syria. We need to encourage the new regime to stay close to international law.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Days of clashes between those affiliated with Syria\u2019s new governing force HTS <\/a>and those loyal to ousted leader Bashar al-Assad have left hundreds of civilians dead.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Death toll estimates have varied. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday more than 1,000 people had been killed, including 700 civilians. Another monitoring group, the Syrian Network for Human Rights, reported that government forces had killed 327 civilians and captured militants and Assad loyalists had killed 148.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was the bloodiest internal clash<\/a> since Assad was ousted in early December.<\/p>\n

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Fighting began Thursday after Assad loyalists ambushed government forces in the Latakia province, and revenge killings left entire families, mostly of the Alawite sect of Islam, dead in their wake, according to the United Nations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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“We are receiving extremely disturbing reports of entire families, including women, children and\u00a0hors de combat<\/i> [surrendered] fighters, being killed,” U.N. human rights commissioner Volker T\u00fcrk said in a statement. “The killing of civilians in coastal areas in north-west Syria must cease, immediately.”<\/p>\n

\u00a0Syria\u2019s transitional president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, said the fighting was part of “expected challenges” and called for national unity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We have to preserve national unity and domestic peace; we can live together,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Russia and the U.S. asked the U.N. Security Council<\/a> to meet privately on Monday to discuss the violence in Syria.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham was founded as an al Qaeda offshoot but broke away from the group in 2016. In December, the Biden administration lifted a $10 million bounty on the head of al-Sharaa.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The group has been trying to shake its extremist reputation and terrorist designation, with a smooth-talking al-Sharaa claiming he does not want Syria to become the next Afghanistan<\/u><\/a> and he believes in education for women.<\/p>\n

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BIPARTISAN LEGISLATION SEEKS TO REIN IN ERDOGAN’S TURKEY OVER TIES TO US FOES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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Gerapetritis also expressed “concern” about Turkey\u2019s Blue Homeland Doctrine<\/a>, which has prompted incursions into Greek waters. The expression refers to Turkey\u2019s maritime claims over large portions of the eastern Mediterranean Sea, in large part spurred by large deposits of natural gas off the coast of Cyprus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“We are concerned, you know, the Blue Homeland doctrine is a doctrine that goes against international law,” he said. “Greece has abided by international law, especially international law of the seas.”<\/p>\n

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Geraptetritis said relations between Greece and Turkey had improved in recent years \u2013 Turkish incursions of Greek airspace had “minimized” and the two countries had coordinated on tackling illegal immigration.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Syrian army personnel head toward Latakia to join the fight against the forces linked to Syria’s ousted leader Bashar al-Assad, in Aleppo, Syria, March 7, 2025.<\/span> (Reuters\/Mahmoud Hassano\/File Photo)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

“There must be a major step concerning the limitation of maritime zones. We\u2019re not still there,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Greece and Turkey, both members of NATO<\/a>, have had tensions for decades, though relations have improved in recent years.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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“I have to emphasize the fact that Greece is a pillar of stability in the Eastern Mediterranean and in the broader region.”<\/p>\n

The foreign minister also boasted of Greece\u2019s growing relationship with India, and views his nation as a gateway for India\u2019s planned Middle East-Europe corridor.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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People protest against the killing of civilians and security forces linked to Syria’s new rulers, at Marjeh Square, in Damascus, March 9, 2025.<\/span> (Reuters\/Khalil Ashawi)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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He framed it as a way to counter China\u2019s Belt and Road Initiative<\/a>, where the CCP seeks access and influence across the globe by financing development and trade projects.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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“This major, plan is, I think, an excellent project,” said Gerapetritis. “In order to diversify the routes concerning transport, concerning data, concerning energy. We are very like-minded with the United States when it comes to foreign and security policy.”<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP<\/u><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

China had swept in to help Greece financially during its public debt crisis, with Chinese companies investing billions in the nation at a time when most investors were spooked by its debt defaults. Now, Greece appears to be pulling away from that influence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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“It is our firm conviction that we need to develop alternative cooperation and alternative trade routes [to China].”<\/p>\n

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close Video Greek foreign minister warns Europe, US to keep a close eye on Syria regime Greek Foreign Minister Giorgios Gerapetritis warned the U.S. to keep a close eye on the new Syrian regime, expressed concerns about Turkish incursions and boasted of Greece’s new alliance with India as a way to counter China. With hundreds […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21619"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22614,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21619\/revisions\/22614"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cissar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}