SYRIA: Assad’s Arabist statements deny historical fact, says Yezidi House member Elias Sedo

NORTH AND EAST SYRIA — Elias Sedo, a member of the Administrative Council of the Yezidi House in Gozarto (Jazira) Region, told SuroyoFM on Wednesday that the recent statements made by head of the Syrian regime Bashar al-Assad in which he emphasized the Arabism of Syria fly in the face of historical fact.

“Everyone knows that Syria is a land and people with deep historical roots,” said Sedo, “and many civilizations came before the Arabs moved into the region from the Arabian Peninsula.”

Sedo added that, even to this day, the original inhabitants of Syria still exist in the country.

The abolition of the “other” and adherence to an Arabist mentality is proof that the regime denies the historical ties to Syria of non-Arab peoples and uses this alternative history as an excuse to deny them their rights, said Sedo.

After years of civil war, pointed out Sedo, the Syrian regime still denies the Syrian people their place in the country and seeks to divide Syrians from different backgrounds to maintain control over them.