The Alawites/Alevis are an ethno-religious community that officially emerged in the ninth century and is living mainly in the Levant region of the Middle East, specifically in the coastal cities of Syria, Turkey, northern Lebanon and the Golan Heights. Approximately four million Alawites live in Syria, and the Alevi community in Turkey numbers around 20 million.

Initially, it was considered a sect of Shiite Islam. The religious leader Ibn Nusayr is believed to be the founder of Alevism. His teachings caused a rift not only within the Shiite doctrine, or within the sect of the 12 imams, but also more generally within the Muslim world.

After the founding of the Syrian Arab Republic in 1947, Hafez al-Assad and then Bashar al-Assad, who were Alawites, took power in the 1970s. Since then, the Syrian people have been fighting against the dictatorship that was imposed on them. The community became a scapegoat for Bashar, who pushed his people into the "civil" war that broke out in 2011. In reality, it was a proxy war, and the mercenaries of the external supporters who were in favour of overthrowing the Assad regime were paramilitary jihadist forces. Together with the forces of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), formerly Al Qaeda, they targeted Alawites, Shiites, Christians and secular Sunnis.

A fundamental question needs to be answered: Can criminal acts committed by the security forces of the Assad regime be blamed on an entire people of millions of citizens that carry a belief system inspired by the principles of humanity and peaceful coexistence, just because the Assad family is Alawite? When crime occurs, it is the perpetrators that need to be targeted, not their ethnic identity as a whole.

Turkish analysts and leading figures of the Alawite community in Syria, specifically Mouna Ghanem (coordinator of the Syrian Women's Forum for Peace and spokeswoman of the Alawite Supreme Council in Syria), Hamide Rencüs (an expert on the Middle East, Syria in particular, and a researcher, blogger and author of numerous books), Issa Ibrahim (president of the Workers' Political Rights Movement, founded in April 2012, who recently helped establish the 'Political Council of Central and Western Syria') and Nidal Hawari (an activist in the Alevi Council of Phoenicia-Cilicia, a collective is fighting for the restoration of the rights of the community in both Syria and Turkey), spoke to The Wire about the dramatic developments in Syria. Edited excerpts from the interviews follow.

What is the Alawite community and how did it develop historically in the Middle East?

Nidal Hawari: 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, traditions, customs and practices, an overarching 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 civilisations 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 (who goes by the name Abu Mohammed al-Jolani). 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. 

What exactly happened and what is the total number of victims of the attacks against the Alawites in early March?

Hamide Rencüs: From December 8, when the HTS (Hayat Tahrir al-Sham) captured Damascus, until March 2025, the massacres, abductions, confiscation of property and violent expulsions of Alawites from their land continued unabated. All these atrocities 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. The inhabitants of the coastal areas were not waiting for a saviour 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. 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, tens of 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 burnt down.

In addition, many mass graves covered with concrete were discovered within two days, and new ones are constantly being found. Furthermore, according to eyewitness testimonies, dead bodies were collected and transferred with bulldozers to unknown locations.

Those who escaped the attacks on March 7 and 8 on the Syrian coast – especially women – continue to be subjected to attacks by Joulani's forces. The victims of the jihadists are not only Alawite women; all women in Syria are at risk.

Have you requested the intervention of the international community to end violence against women in your community?

Hamide Rencüs: Immediately after the fall of Damascus, the first action of HTS leader Abu Muhammad al-Jolani was to launch organised 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 to the Alawite community.

The women, like the entire Alawite community, are unarmed and have no means of defence. They were left completely alone, unprotected and defenceless 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, 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, defenceless and alone.

The coast of Syria is bleeding, [as is] the whole country. All communities are struggling to escape the deadly siege of the centralised power of Damascus and Jolani.

Could a model of federalisation potentially lead to the dissolution of Syria, as Israeli journalist Oded Yinon explicitly predicted in 1982?

Mouna Ghanem: Did he say that the federalisation of Syria could lead to its dissolution? Now, it is the only solution because after the Second World War, 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 the First World War, Syria's territory was much larger, it included other lands. Back then, as part of the Ottoman Empire, Aleppo and Damascus had separate political administrations.

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 (Jolani) 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.

Could another leadership emerge in Syria that could adequately replace the earlier Al-Assad government?

Mouna Ghanem: This is 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.

Leaders of your community, including yourself, announced the formation of the 'Political Council of Central and Western Syria'. What are the goals of this new political entity? Do you believe that a federal model will be accepted by the government, the countries that support it, and the international community?

Issa Ibrahim: We must bear in mind that a coalition of terrorist organisations 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 nationality. 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 Jolani/al-Sharaa, the leader of a terrorist organisation accused of murder and genocide.

In the light of the serious threats we face – coming from Turkey but also from Iran – we focus on what our people want and not on what others want.

We have been targeted by organised 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 Middle East. This is a fundamental right enshrined by international organisations, particularly United Nations human rights organisations, as well as by the political culture of democratic governance of UN member states.

Although we understand the objective necessity of legalising a terrorist organisation 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 civilians 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.

Natali Glezou is a journalist.

The author would like to thank Turkish academics Esra Mungan and Hakan Mertcan, members of the Academics for Peace initiative, and Ahmet Askar for their valuable role in facilitating these interviews.

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