Syrian Christians reopen Armenian church in HTS-dominated Idlib province for first time since 2011

Syrian Christians in the village of Yacoubia in rebel-held Idlib province celebrated a mass at a historic church on Sunday, in the first such event since 2011.

The mass was held on St. Anna’s Day at Yacoubia’s Armenian Apostolic Church, which is dedicated to the saint.

It took place under the protection of militants from Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the hardline Islamist group which dominates the rebel-held province.

Pictures and video of the mass were widely shared on social media.

HTS was formerly affiliated to Al-Qaeda but severed its links with the global jihadist group in 2017 and has since tried to present a more “moderate” face. It is still considered a terrorist group by the US, the UK, and Turkey.

For the first time since 2011...Christians celebrate "Saint Anna's Day" in the church of "Al-Yaqoubia" in the Jisr Al-Shughur countryside, west of #Idlib
#Syria pic.twitter.com/3hCXXibabU

— Ahmad (@Ahmad1618A) August 30, 2022

Idlib province was previously home to about 10,000 Syrian Christians and Yacoubia had a population of 476, mostly Armenian and Catholic Christians.

After the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011, many of the Christians left, fleeing bombing by the Assad regime as well as persecution by Islamist militants.

However, in July, HTS leader Abu Mohammed Al-Jolani visited Yacoubia and other Christian villages and met with Christian leaders.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that HTS had expelled families of Islamist militants from the East Turkestan Islamic Party who had taken up residence in churches in Yacoubia and allowed restoration work to take place.