Patriarch John X, primate of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All The East, received the Chargé d'Affaires of the Greek Embassy, Mr. Nicholas Protonotarios, at the Patriarchal House in Damascus on October 6.
They talked about the general situation in Syria, while in addition, His Beatitude denounced the incident at the Military College in Homs, in which over a hundred people were killed.
The Patriarch also met with the Chargé d'Affairs of the Cypriot Embassy Sivak Avedissian on the same day as his Greek counterpart.
With the Cypriot diplomat, the Patriarch again denounced the incident at the Military College in Homs.
His meeting with the Greek and Cypriot diplomats came only one day after several drones attacked a graduation ceremony in the academy’s courtyard, where families had gathered with the new officers.
Syria’s Ministry of Health said at least 89 people had been killed, including 31 women and five children. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the Syrian conflict, put the toll at more than 120. Syria declared three days of national mourning.
There have been no claims of responsibility for the attack, and Syria’s Ministries of Defence and Foreign Affairs and Expatriates blamed what they described as “terrorist” groups without providing specifics. They promised to respond “with full force”.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “expressed deep concern” about the drone attack in Homs, as well as “reports of retaliatory shelling” in northwest Syria, his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
Meanwhile, Russian President and Syrian government ally Vladimir Putin sent his condolences to al-Assad, Lebanese station Al-Manar reported on Friday.
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