Syriac Union Party (Syria)

Political role in Jazira Canton of Rojava

With the start of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, the Syriac Union Party aligned itself with the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), with which it shares a secular, pro-modernization and direct democracy based ideology. It has three deputies in the Syrian Democratic Council, the legislature of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.

The Syriac Union Party has set up the Syriac Military Council militia as well as the Sutoro police force to protect Assyrian communities in their settlement areas in northeast Syria. Sutoro are integrated with the general Asayish police force of Jazira Region of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria, however the Qamishli branch later broke away to align itself with the Assad government under the name of Sootoro. The Syriac Military Council has co-operated closely with the mainly Kurdish People's Defense Units (YPG) and later became part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The Deputy Prime Minister of the region is Syriac Christian Elizabeth Gawrie.

Persecution by the Assad government

The Syriac Union Party has been subject to continued repression by the Assad government during the civil war, despite being part of the nonviolent and officially-tolerated domestic opposition National Coordination Body. On 6 June 2013, government forces raided the Qamishli home of SUP Executive Committee member Rubel Gabriel Bahho, arresting and subsequently imprisoning him. On 12 August 2013, security forces apprehended SUP vice-president Sait Malki Cosar—the father of Sutoro leader Johann Cosar—as he disembarked at Qamishli Airport following a visit to Switzerland, where he holds dual citizenship. After being detained in Qamishli for several days, Cosar was transferred to a prison near Damascus and contact with him was lost. Neither party official is known to have been formally charged or tried in court, and neither has been released or heard from since their imprisonment. Their fates remain unknown as of February 2014.

Cosar is rumoured to have died under shadowy circumstances while in custody. The government produced a death certificate for Cosar that stated he died in Damascus of supposed "cardiac arrest" at either 10:00 or 10:25 PM on the day of his arrest, even though his flight did not even land in Qamishli until 10:30 PM. But despite requests from both the SUP and Cosar's family, government officials have refused to release his body. Cosar's relatives reportedly managed to track down the doctors in Damascus who signed the death certificate, who told them that the government frequently forces doctors to sign death certificates for detainees without allowing them to even see a corpse. Friends, family members, and party colleagues alike believe that Cosar may still be alive, and have alleged that the government is trying to conceal the fact that he has been tortured in custody.

Post-Assad Syria

The Syriac Union Party welcomed the 10 March 2025 agreement between the Syrian transitional government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa and the Syrian Democratic Forces commander Mazloum Abdi as "a genuine and correct beginning" towards building inclusive institutions, but criticised it for passing over Syriac-Assyrian rights and aspirations. Amid the Syrian government's 2026 offensive against the SDF, party co-chair Sanharib Barsom called on the government to return to negotiations and described its military advances as a "victory for external actors who do not wish Syria well". He criticised the government for failing to meet its March 2025 commitments, for its use of force and for "pursuing a centralized approach similar to that of the former regime", and pledged to continue the struggle for "the full realization of Syriac rights in a new Syria".

Activities in Europe

On 15 August 2012, members of Syriac Union Party stormed the Syrian embassy in Stockholm in protest of the Syrian government. A dozen of its members were later detained by Swedish police.

References

References

1. Fehim Taştekin. (30 January 2017). "Does Syria really want to reconcile with Kurds?". [[Al-Monitor]].
2. Carl Drott. (25 May 2015). "The Revolutionaries of Bethnahrin". Warscapes.
3. (28 October 2013). "Gespräch des Zentralrates Orientalischer Christen in Deutschland mit Herrn Hanibal Yacoub vom Syriac National Council of Syria (SSNC)".
4. (18 November 2013). "Qamishli's Cold War". Middle East Online.
5. Carl Drott. (18 November 2013). "Qamishli's Cold War". Le Monde Diplomatique.
6. Andrea Glioti. (20 June 2013). "Syriac Christians, Kurds Boost Cooperation in Syria". Al-Monitor.
7. "Kurds carve out their Syrian statelet".
8. link. (7 June 2013). Syriac Union Party in Syria
9. Zihlmann, Oliver. (26 January 2014). "Schweizer in Syrien verschollen". Sonntags Zeitung.
10. (October 2013). "Syriac Leader Arrested by Assad-Regime". European Syriac Union.
11. (6 February 2014). "Suryoye Einheitspartei – Syriac Union Party – Syrien". Suryoye News.
12. Illarietti, Davide. (26 January 2014). "Ticinese rapito, spunta un certificato di morte "per arresto cardiaco"". Tio.
13. (12 March 2025). "Syriac Union Party welcomes agreement between SDF and Syrian Transitional Government, highlights absence of Syriac-Assyrian rights from agreement and advocates for their inclusion". Syriac Press.
14. (22 January 2026). "SUP Co-Chair Sanharib Barsom warns of war in North and East Syria, urges return to political dialogue". Syriac Press.
15. (15 August 2012). "Syrian embassy protest sees several detained in Sweden".