Christians, religious minorities most affected if Syrian peace talks fail

Christians and other religious minorities will be the groups most affected in the event that the Syrian peace talks in Geneva fail, according to groups urging global leaders to do more to protect the groups facing severe persecution in the Middle East region.

Should the Geneva talks fail to result in a pluralistic government that will protect religious minorities, Christians in Syria will continue to be eradicated or expelled from their own country. Unfortunately, Christians are not adequately represented in the Syrian peace talks because they do no hold any position in the government and the opposition, according to Fox News.

A petition signed by 37,500 citizens from numerous nations has been brought to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, bringing focus to the dangers that Syrian Christians and other minorities in the region face. The petition highlights the urgent need for adequate representation for them in the Geneva talks, the report explains.

Just this week, the Syrian peace talks in Geneva have resumed. Representatives of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government and the anti-Assad opposition are included in the Geneva talks. The talks aim to reshape Syria by solidifying the ceasefire in the country, drafting a new constitution, and implement national elections by 2017.

The Geneva talks are also significant because the five-year war in Syria has resulted in the death of over 250,000 people and the biggest refugee crisis in modern history. It has also allowed ISIS to gain control of large parts of Syria and Iraq, where they enforce an extreme and often-barbaric version of Muslim Shariah Law.

Meanwhile, Fox News says it will be difficult to have a single representative of Syria's Christian community because of its diversity. Five Patriarchs of Antioch administer the Christian Church in Syria including the Greek-Orthodox Church of Antioch, the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Maronite Catholic Church, and Syriac Catholic Church.

Despite the diversity in the Christian community of Syria, the publication says there is no excuse for excluding Christians in a plan that will create a new version of their country. The task of bringing the different groups together to create a single voice for Syrian Christians in the Geneva peace talks is a challenging one, but could prove vital for the stability in the region.