Letter to EU Foreign Minister Ms. Kallas on Syria: Strategic Partnership Proposal
Re: Syria’s Indigenous Aramean People Seek Strategic Partnership
Sunday, 5 January 2025
Your Excellency, dear Mrs. Kallas,
Please accept our heartfelt congratulations on your recent appointment, along with our best wishes for 2025. We wish you great success in advancing Europe’s foreign policy during these challenging times.
Motivated by your commitment to defending minority rights in Syria, we write to draw your attention to a unique opportunity to work together for the survival of one of the world’s most ancient peoples: the indigenous Arameans of Syria, Türkiye, Iraq, and Lebanon, who still speak ‘the language of Jesus’.
For 3,000 years, the Arameans have been integral to the cradle of civilization, shaping the Middle East and beyond. Our Aramaic language once united empires and profoundly influenced Judaism, Eastern Christianity, and Islam. It substantially enriched the intellectual heritage of the Arab Muslim world, which in turn inspired Europe’s cultural and scientific renaissance. Yet, amidst Syria’s instability, this ancient civilization faces an existential threat. Its survival now hinges on immediate and targeted action.
Today, 500,000 Arameans live across the EU, enriching the societies that have welcomed us with their important contributions. Firmly rooted in EU societies, our diaspora embodies values such as equality, human rights, and democracy, while enhancing Europe’s cultural and economic fabric. We respectfully seek your support in advocating for EU policies on Syria that protect the survival, cultural heritage, and equitable representation of vulnerable minorities, with particular emphasis on the Arameans as Syria’s oldest indigenous people and the original speakers of its national language before Arabic.
Your visionary leadership can drive transformative change and strengthen the EU’s role as a global leader in safeguarding human rights and cultural heritage, paving the way for a more inclusive, stable, and thriving Middle East. Together, we can ensure that Syria’s native peoples and minorities remain an integral part of its future, contributing to a vibrant cultural mosaic that enriches both the Middle East and Europe, rather than seeing their ancestral homeland emptied and their final remnants forced to seek refuge in Europe. Our unique perspectives, rooted in centuries of navigating the Middle East’s complexities, may also offer valuable insights for fostering lasting peace and stability in the region.
We would be deeply honored to meet with Your Excellency to discuss our ideas further and explore opportunities for effective collaboration between the European Commission and our world federation.
With profound respect and warm anticipation,
Johny Messo
President
World Council of Arameans (Syriacs)
Download the letter with its original letterhead here as a PDF.
