Greece-Syria relations

Greece	Syria

Greece–Syria relations are bilateral relations between Greece and Syria. Greece has an embassy in Damascus and 3 honorary consulates (in Latakia, Tartus and Aleppo). Syria has an embassy in Athens. ^[1] Both countries are members of the Union of the Mediterranean, although Syria suspended its membership in 2011. ^[2] Both countries have many common interests and the historical, cultural and geographical relations that characterize their region.

Country comparison

	Greece	Syria
Population	10,482,487 [3]	18,604,031 [4]
Area	131,957 km2 (50,949 sq mi)	185,180  km2 (71,500 sq mi)
Population Density	97/km2 (250/sq mi)	118.3/km2 (306.4/sq mi)
Capital	Athens	Damascus
Largest City	Athens – 3,059,764	Damascus – 2,503,000 [5]
Government	Unitary parliamentary republic	Unitary dominant-party semi-presidential republic
Current leader	President Katerina Sakellaropoulou Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis	President Bashar al-Assad Prime Minister Hussein Arnous
Official languages	Greek	Arabic
Main religions	90% Greek Orthodox ( official), 3% other Christian, 4% no religion, 2% Islam, 1% other [6]	87% Islam, 10% Christianity, 3% Druzism
Ethnic groups	99% Greeks, 1% Others	75% Arabs 10% Kurds 15% Others (including Turkomans, Assyrians, Circassians, Armenians and Jews) [7] [8]
GDP (nominal)	US$239.300 billion ($22,595 per capita)	US$22,4 billion, [9] ($1,265 per capita)

Factors affecting relations

• The two countries were exposed to colonialism and occupation, which made their positions against the occupation.
• The history of the bad Syria–Turkey relations, where Turkey occupies large lands of Syria (the most important Liwa Iskenderun) and regarding the Kurdish issue and PKK, the historical enmity between Greece and Turkey on Constantinople and Cyprus, Patriarchate of Constantinople and the border problem and others make the Syrian-Greek rapprochement and joint cooperation an important strategic alliance for both countries. ^[10]
• Geographical proximity and the common cultural heritage between the two countries represented by Ancient Syria and the Greeks and Byzantine Empire. And the spread of culture and Greek language historically (where some rituals are still held in some churches in Syria are held in Greek) ^[11] and Phoenician civilization in Greece. ^[12]

History of relations

Ancient era

Archaeological and historical evidence and documents indicate that the Syrian-Greek relations have started in the second millennium BC in general. The first contact between the two Mediterranean nations started with Cadmus introducing Phoenician Alphabet to Ancient Greece. In addition, Ugarit in Syria had also contact with Messinia and the Minoan civilization, ^[13] until it was destroyed by the Sea People.

Thirty Ugaritic letters, which is known as the Ugaritic alphabet invented by Syrians from Ugarit. This alphabet moved thanks to the Syrian and Greek navigators to the country of Greece. Archaeological documents also indicate that the Messinians had communities in Ugarit, especially in its port Minet el-Beida, which bears a Greek name (Lokos Limen). This port was a great witness to the oldest commercial and cultural relations between the two countries, and the Greeks had large groups of merchants who, along with Ugarit merchants, supervised maritime trade, import and export.

Hellenistic era

Macedonian Greek king, Alexander the Great conquered Syria and the region in 333–332 BCE. Afterwards, Seleucus led the Seleucid Empire to rule Syria, which lasted until 64 BCE. In Syria, Seleucids had many achievements such as building cities like Antioch, Laodicea, and Apamea, in addition to laying the foundations to the Aleppo Citadel.

Late on, the Byzantine Empire kept the Greek influence until mid-7th century, in which they developed the Norias of Hama. During the Byzantine rule, the Eastern Orthodox Church was the common religion between the two nations, which still has 503,000 members in Syria. ^[14]

Pre-WWI

Both Greece and Syria were occupied by the Ottoman Empire for more than four centuries.

Modern era

During the WWII, many Greeks fled their country after the Nazi invasion, mainly from the island of Chios to seek refuge in Al-Nayrab camp, near Aleppo. ^[15] During the Syrian Civil War, thousands of Syrians went to Greece and Europe to escape war in their country.

On May 8, 2020, the Greek Foreign Ministry Nikos Dendias announced a restoration of relations between Greece and Syria and assigned former ambassador to Syria and Russia, Tasia Athanassiou, as a Special Envoy of Greece's Foreign Ministry for Syria. ^[16]

In July 2020, Syria initiated the construction of a Russian-funded replica of Hagia Sophia in the predominantly Christian town of Al-Suqaylabiyah. ^[17]

Spring shield operation

After ending of Syrian offensive against Turkish occupation and balyun airstrike, Turkey asked NATO for help to launch a large-scale military intervention in Syria, but Greece vetoed Turkey's aid, thereby protecting Syria from NATO. ^[18]

See also

• Foreign relations of Greece
• Foreign relations of Syria
• Greeks in Syria

References

External links

• Greek Foreign Affairs Ministry about relations with Syria
• Syrian embassy in Athens