An urgent question to the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Ms Kaya Kalas, was tabled today by MEP and member of the European Parliament’s Security and Defence Committee, Professor Nikolas Farantouris, regarding the dramatic events of Islamic terrorism that took place yesterday Sunday (22/6) in Damascus and led to the murder of dozens of Greek Orthodox in Syria.

A suicide bomber, a member of the Islamic State, shot and then blasted himself inside the Holy Church of Prophet Elijah in Damascus during Sunday services, killing dozens of Greek Orthodox.

“I am shocked. I know the church of Prophet Elijah in Damascus. I contacted the Greek community and Greek Orthodox friends in Syria last night. Communities of 2500 thousand years of uninterrupted presence are in danger of extinction. They live in a state of terror and fear. Things are out of control and I warned about this,” Nicholas Farantouris said late Sunday night on social media.

The Greek MEP denounces yesterday’s massacre as yet another bloody episode of violence in the ongoing attacks on schools, churches, public and private spaces under the tolerance or guidance of the new Islamist regime in Damascus and calls for the intervention of the European Union.

“I warned about what is happening and what is to follow. Both during my visit to Damascus on March 7-8, when I saw with my own eyes the massacres of thousands of Alawites and Christians, and throughout the following period.”

In his urgent question, the Greek MEP asks the High Representative and Vice-President of the European Commission:

The European Parliament’s representative to ask the European Commissioner for the European Parliament to ask the European Commission to ask the European Parliament to ask the European Parliament to ask the European Parliament to ask the following questions.
a) that a delegation of European officials should travel to Damascus on an emergency basis,
b) a team of inspectors be sent immediately to Syria to document the attacks and atrocities; and
c) to immediately review the framework for cooperation and the lifting of EU sanctions on the Damascus government and to demand that the Jolani regime hold elections with a specific timetable.

Call to the Greek Government

“I call on the Greek Government to act now, to abandon the retreat and to take serious initiatives to stop the carnage against the Greek Orthodox and every national and religious community in Syria,” notes Nicholas Farantouris.

At the same time, he asks the Greek state “to send to the Embassy of Greece in Damascus, members of the Security Corps, to assess the situation on the ground and to inform in detail the government and the European institutions.”

Finally, Mr. Farantouris calls on Athens “to immediately organize a mixed bipartisan mission to Damascus by members of the Greek and European Parliament to assess the situation and to impress upon the Jolani regime that there can be no tolerance for the ongoing massacres.”

He concludes: “They look to Greece, their second home, for support. Greece must step forward in Europe and the world and demand respect for human rights in Syria as a precondition for Brussels-Damascus relations.”

Greece is the second second home to Greece, its second home, and its second country of origin.

The Islamist Jolani regime

The fall of the Assad regime in late 2024 was followed by the rise of Al Jolani (Al-Sara). Al-Sara is a former member of Al-Qaeda and his organisation (HTS) is staffed by jihadists and Islamist fanatics from countries such as Turkey, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. With his rise to power, persecution and massacres against Alawites and Christians on the Mediterranean coast in cities such as Laodicea and Tarsus began.

Nicolas Faradouris submitted a question to the European Commission on 23 January, asking for a commitment from Damascus to the European Union regarding the protection of ethnic and religious communities.

He then visited Damascus on March 8-9, the days of the massacres of thousands of Alawites and Christians, where he met with the Greek community, Patriarch John I of Antioch, representatives of communities, and officials of the transitional government.

During his stay in Syria, he documented the upsurge of violence and extremism and attacks in towns and neighborhoods by Alawites and Christians under the direction or tolerance of the Jolani regime. After the fall of Assad, the EU and the US decided to move to lift sanctions on Damascus, but this is conditional on respect for Syria’s religious and ethnic communities.