On the occasion of first anniversary of the outbreak of the Syrian revolution, the Aramean Democratic Organization salutes the martyrs who died for freedom in Syria from the Baath’s tyranny and abomination of the ruling Assad squad.

 The mere continuation of the Syrian people in their revolution, in spite of limited support from the global community, and the Arab world in particular, to put it mildly - at least so far - and the fragmentation of the Syrian opposition groups and division and internal "battles" and savage and barbarism of the regime in suppressing the revolution, is a miracle in itself.

 Ever since the beginning of its establishment, the Aramean Democratic organization has always being standing against the totalitarian regimes and dictatorship, and especially the Baath’s in Damascus, because of this regimes policies and the catastrophic consequences on the region in general and on the Syrian people in particular, and which culminated in it’s satanic alliance with the clerical regime in Iran and Hezbollah and it’s lackeys in Lebanon, which made the looting, corruption and repression grow worse and increased the spreading of terrorism in the world.

 At the same time as we understand the concerns of many Christians in general, and the Arameans in their various Church affiliations in particular, we can only emphasize what we have been calling over and over again, that there is no alternative of struggle for freedom and democracy to gain access to secular pluralistic civil society, where everyone is equal before the law, regardless of gender, race and belief. The thirst for freedom and work to spread it is nothing but in line with the principles of our Christianity and faith.

 The Christian Arameans fear for the future goes back to the outcome of the bitter Iraqi experience, which lead to drain Iraq from most of the Christian population, as well as the fact that these developments lead Islamist parties to take power in Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya and the rise of prominent forces of the Salafist in these countries, followed by the subsequent increase in the social and psychological pressures on non-Muslims, and the change in regulations, curricula and laws in a way that violates personal freedoms along with an attempt to adopt Islamic law in the Constitution.

 The solution, in this regard lies in the involvement of Christians in the Syrian movement to get rid of the oppressive, corrupt and terror regime. Despite all the difficulties, it is now clear that the end of the Baath’s regime in Damascus has become a matter of time only, even if it might take longer or shorter time depending on the international developments and political positions. As Christians we do not have any alternative but active participations and strong influence in the movement, to establish a civil and secular, fair and democratic political system in future Syria, based on the principles of equality and human rights charter, which respects individual and personal freedoms and recognize our Aramean people as a genuine group and adopt Aramaic as an official language in the country similar to Arabic.