What caused Syria's civil war?

Syrian Anglican priest gives his take on how the current conflict came into being

Throughout its history, ancient and modern, Syria has played host to ethnic and religious minorities living together very much in harmony.

Syria, in the original sense of what is now known as "Greater Syria", encompassed much of the Levant – today's states of Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, plus a portion of Turkey. This is the cradle of the three major monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam; two were born in Syria, and Islam found its way there very early in its existence.

Its geopolitical position brought Syria to the attention of many different superpowers and, sadly, it has often been a battleground for these foreign powers. Throughout millennia of occupation and recent decades of independence, the minorities in Syria have always stayed true to their homeland: they played a major role in the liberation from the Ottomans after more than 500 years of oppression, and from the French Mandate in the twentieth century, leading to independence in 1946.

Christians, Druze, Alawites, Kurds and other, smaller minorities worked hand in hand with the majority Sunnis to secure the liberation of Syria from all foreign occupation. Read more