The Alawite community, an ancient ethno-religious group rooted in the Levant, is once again facing existential peril. As warlords and militias battle for dominance in Syria, reports of mass killings, abductions, and systemic persecution have emerged, particularly following the fall of Damascus to jihadist forces in late 2024. The community, long associated with the Assad family, finds itself scapegoated and targeted in a conflict that has consumed the nation for over a decade.
What began as a civil uprising has devolved into a complex proxy war, with international actors pursuing competing agendas and extremist groups exploiting chaos to commit atrocities. Yet, as voices from within the Alawite and broader Syrian society warn, the world’s silence threatens to cement these tragedies into history. Can an entire people be condemned for the crimes of a regime, or does justice demand a more nuanced reckoning?
The following article is adapted from an interview conducted by Natali Glezou with Turkish analysts and Syrian Alawite leaders—Mouna Ghanem, Hamide Rencüs, Issa Ibrahim, and Nidal Hawari. It presents their views on the ongoing situation in Syria’s Alawite community. All claims and interpretations are attributed to the interviewees unless otherwise indicated. The original interview was published in “The Wire.”
A hidden history and a persecuted identity of Alawites
When asked whether the Alawite community’s identity was shaped primarily through its association with the Assad family or through deeper historical roots, Nidal Hawari explained that its religious and cultural development long predates modern Syria.
“The religious identity of the Nusayris/Khasibis, who are one of the Alawite communities, was created ‘in secret,’ after the early Islamic period and especially after the fall of the Umayyad dynasty and the emergence of the Abbasid Caliphate.
One of the first communities targeted by the Abbasid regime was the Khattābīs, which was exterminated for its values and beliefs. However, its cultural identity and spiritual heritage, which extols humanism, was passed on, ‘in secret,’ to other communities, such as the Qarmatians, Ismailis, Nusayris, and Fatimids.
In the 1920s, the colonial powers, especially France, gave all these communities, which had different origins, distinct traditions, customs, and practices, a general ‘label’: they called them ‘Alawites,’ thus erasing their unique manifold identities.
However, their cultural/religious tradition is not rooted solely in Islam or the Abrahamic religions. It extends further back in history to the ancient civilizations of the Sumerians, Akkad, the Assyrian Empire, Babylon, and Phoenicia.
Their spiritual heritage was adopted and preserved through introspection, the search for hidden meanings, interpretation through symbols, and secrecy, which are the main features of their worldview.
The political and social oppression suffered by the Alawites over time has intensified with the overthrow of the Assad regime and the rise to power of Ahmed al-Sharaa. It reached its peak when the Alawites were attacked by Damascus forces in early March. For these reasons, to this day, secrecy continues unabated in the perpetuation of their traditions and the performance of their religious duties.”
Massacres on the coast
Speaking about the recent attacks against Alawite civilians, Hamide Rencüs described a grim picture of systematic extermination and international indifference.
“From December 8, when HTS captured Damascus, until March 2025, the massacres, abductions, confiscation of property, and violent expulsions of Alawites from their land continued unabated.
All these atrocities, which continued unabated for so many months, were ignored, and in early March, the genocidal attacks against them began in every possible way. It is obvious that this required a ‘pretext,’ which was created on the afternoon of March 6 for Jolani and the HTS regime.
A video was released showing a man with his face covered by a mask announcing that he was the commander of the ‘Coastal Shield Brigade.’ He then declared that the brigade would take action against Jolani’s forces, which were committing massacres against the Alawites, and that it would liberate the Syrian coast.
However, the inhabitants of the coastal areas were not waiting for a savior to liberate them and did not fall into the trap. But for Jolani, this was just the excuse he needed to clash with what he called ‘the remnants of the old regime,’ marking the start of the genocidal attacks.
The rhetoric contained in the phrase ‘remnants of the old regime,’…was a provocation orchestrated by the security forces, [and] in essence, it was a call for the ethnic cleansing of the Alawites.
Beyond all estimates of the number of victims, between March 8 and 9, thousands of Alawites were massacred. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that 1,700 Alawites were killed on the country’s coastline in two days.
However, Syrian journalists claim that the number of victims is in the tens of thousands, estimating that if an independent investigation is conducted, its findings will confirm that the actual number of deaths is approximately 50,000.
The full extent of these crimes must be revealed. The bodies of families, including women and children, were found in dozens of houses that had been completely burned down.
In addition, many mass graves covered with concrete were discovered within two days, and new ones are constantly being found. Furthermore according to testimonies, dead bodies were collected and transferred with bulldozers to unknown locations.
However, those who escaped the attacks on March 7 and 8 on the Syrian coast continue to be subjected to attacks by Joulani’s forces, especially women. The victims of the jihadists are not only Alawite women; all women in Syria are at risk.”
The desperation of Alawite women
Commenting on the plight of women in her community and their appeal to the international community, Hamide Rencüs described a situation of near-total abandonment.
“Immediately after the fall of Damascus, the first action of HTS leader Abu Muhammad al-Jolani was to launch organized massacres against the Alawites, which constitute genocide. In 2014, Islamic State fighters raped, kidnapped, and enslaved women from the Yazidi tribe. Now HTS is doing exactly the same thing in Syria.
The women, like the entire Alawite community, [are] unarmed and [have] no means of defense. They were left completely alone, unprotected, and defenseless for months. They were raped, murdered, kidnapped, and sold into slavery. From the outset, they sought international protection, but their voices went unheard. With no hope left for intervention from the United Nations, they decided to appeal to arms manufacturers around the world.”
I present to the readers the women’s appeal:
“We are Alevi women who have been abandoned by the coastal regions of Syria. Since long, we have been asking the world to help us, demanding an end to the abductions of women from our community. So far, no one has responded to this appeal. Our bodies and our honor are our most precious possessions. That is why we are making the following request to major arms manufacturers. We ask them to manufacture a special weapon that will protect us from abduction, captivity, and rape.
We ask you to manufacture a belt, which we will wear around our waists, with explosives that we can activate when faced with the threat of abduction. It will be a weapon that can protect our bodies and our dignity. We do not want anyone else to die with us, we do not even want to hurt an ant. We do not want to hurt those who try to kidnap us, because we are not murderers, [and] our faith forbids us to kill. We want to protect our bodies from captivity. For us, death is better than being kidnapped, sold, and raped […].”
At least a month has passed since their voices, reflecting boundless despair, were heard, yet the international community remains silent. Alawite women count their wounds, defenseless and alone.
The coast of Syria is bleeding, the whole country. All communities are struggling to escape the deadly siege of the centralized power of Damascus and Jolani.”
Federalism or fragmentation?
When asked whether a federal model might risk the dissolution of Syria, as Israeli journalist Oded Yinon once predicted, Mouna Ghanem argued that federalism is the only viable path forward.
“Did he say that the federalization of Syria could lead to its dissolution? Now, it is the only solution because after World War II, most countries should have been led to this model of government. In Syria, it will be very difficult for people who have experienced civil war to live together and coexist.
If this country ultimately breaks up, we must remember that the name ‘Syria’ is historical, but its geographical borders were defined by the Sykes–Picot agreement. Historically, Syria had a much larger territory than its current borders. The history and culture of communities will always continue to exist, but sometimes borders change because of wars, and then countries acquire new names. Syria will always remain where it is.
During World War I, Syria’s territory was much larger, included other lands. Back then, as part of the Ottoman Empire, Aleppo and Damascus had separate political administration.
Therefore, I do not know if the federal system will lead to dissolution, but I firmly believe that it is now the only solution to keep Syria united after the civil war. Because Ahmed al-Sharaa has the following plan: to make Syria fertile ground for Islamist groups and to exterminate minorities.
We, the Alawite community, have wanted nothing more than to live together for the last 100 years, but unfortunately this effort has failed. And if the only option we have to keep Syria together and ensure the survival of religious minorities is federalism, and if this leads to the territorial fragmentation of the country in the future, my top priority is to protect human life, not the artificial borders created by the British.
That is why I believe there must be a political settlement that will keep people alive, not borders. ”
The search for leadership and self-determination
Asked if another leadership could emerge to replace the Assad government, Ghanem remained cautious, saying:
“This would be possible if the major powers allowed it. The only obstacle to such a leadership taking power is that they have different plans for Syria. We have so many important figures who could take over the governance of the country, but now we have the Al-Nusra Front government. I believe that there was an international agreement, obviously for certain reasons, on the decision to have Ahmed al-Saraa take power this time.”
The group’s vision
In speaking about the newly established Political Council of Central and Western Syria, Issa Ibrahim outlined the group’s vision.
“We must bear in mind that the coalition of terrorist organizations took the ‘baton’ of power in Damascus. This handing over occurred with the consent and supervision of the international community, as well as with the support of Turkey, mainly at the regional level.
In that case, we can say that the very concept of the state in Syria has collapsed. We can say that Syria has lost its sovereignty. And here we should recall the three characteristics of statehood: sovereignty, defined territory, and a permanent population.
Therefore, we had no other choice but to exercise the right of self-determination for all areas of Central and Western regions of . . . Syria that are inhabited mainly by Alawites, Christians of various denominations, Mursidis, a religious community that broke away from the Alawites, Ismailis—a religious group belonging to Shia Islam—and Sunnis.
Our goal is to build a modern, secular, and democratic self-governing structure that includes all citizens based on their citizenship. We believe that Syria should have a federal system of government that protects the dignity and choices of all citizens.
We will not wait for the approval or disapproval of Abu Mohammad al-Jolani (Ahmed al-Sharaa), the leader of a terrorist organization accused of murder and genocide.
In light of the serious threats we face—coming from Turkey but also from Iran in general but in particular in relation to this issue—we focus on what our people want and not on what others want.
We have been targeted by organized campaigns of extermination, with our forests and farms constantly being burned, our property looted, and plans to displace our people and thus change the demographics of our land.
That is why it is our duty to protect our people and all the citizens of Central and Western. This is a fundamental right enshrined by international organizations, particularly United Nations human rights organizations, as well as by the political culture of democratic governance of UN member states.
Although we understand the ‘objective necessity’ of legalizing a terrorist organization that is now the ‘government’ in Damascus, we believe that it is much more important to protect our human (natural) rights, our lives, and our property.
Human life and the protection of victims come first.
Based on these decisions, we adopt the principle that our relations with other states will be determined on the basis of our common interests and not according to empty ‘slogans,’ for which we have already paid the price for decades.”
This article is based on an interview conducted by Natali Glezou, initially published in “The Wire.”
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