SYRIA
Syria has for much of the century had a sizeable Christian minority, making up at least 10% of the population. The proportion is thought to be declining due to emigration, conflict and low birth rates, although there are few reliable statistics.
In recent years Syria has been considered one of the easier Middle Eastern countries for Christians to live in. Power is concentrated in the hands of the Alawite minority - a Shia sect considered heretical by many Muslims - which has clamped down hard on extreme forms of Islam. This all changed once ISIS and many other Sunni extremist groups decided to wage war against the secular Assad regime. Today, the plight of Christians in Syria is very dire. Many are hunted down by Islamists, either forced to convert or face death. We have seen horrific videos of beheading of Christians by ISIS.
It should be noted that Saudi Arabia, Gulf States, Israel, Turkey and America did support in some form or fashion ISIS and the so called "Free Syrian Army". The fact that today we, along with some "Arab coalition partners" are bombing ISIS only highlights the insanity of our foreign policy there. Prior to the conflict, some Christians have been successful in professions and business - with a few rising relatively high in the administration. Still, some have followed relatives to the West for economic reasons, to escape the general repression of the regime and more recently left to escape war.
The largest Churches are the Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic. There are also Syrian Orthodox, Syrian Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Armenian Catholic, Assyrian and Chaldean (see Iran and Iraq) Christians.
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