The above is a short documentary about the Cretan community of Syria -- that is, the small ethnically Greek Muslim community located in the coastal province of Tartous.
The community, though living away from Crete (and Greece) for over a century, still speaks a Cretan dialect and has held on to Greek customs. They keep up with Greek politics, current events, and entertainment by catching the Cyprus TV signal on their satellites. Here, two travel bloggers recounts their travel experiences in Al-Hamidiyah. They write:
When you hear Cretan songs being sung from the heart, from a man who has never been to the island, you realise how strong the Cretan presence is felt in Al Hamidiyah. These songs spoke of Crete in a different age, they were beautiful to listen to.
I was told that the dialect they speak was learnt in the home as it is not taught at school. The Hamidiyans love Crete and this family is a clear example of that. You can see it in the spark of their eyes when they speak of Crete. It came as no surprise that they, like the rest of the village, appreciate the Cretan customs and language.
All attribute the name of the town, Al-Hamidiyah, to Sultan Abdel Hamid, the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. However, some claim that they named the town after him as a way of remembering that he is the reason for their pain and exile; others claim he set aside the land in Al-Hamidiya for them to protect them from retribution following Greco-Turkish war.
While the community in Syria calls itself Greek-Cretan, it is important to note that amongst other spaces they are known as Cretan Turks, due to being Muslim. Efsevia Lasithiotaki has written about this, claiming that modern Greek identity formation is continent upon language (Greek) and religion (Orthodox Christianity); therefore, someone cannot be Muslim and Greek. However, she writes that for the Cretan population of Syria, their identity formation process is similar to that of the Cretan population in Lebanon: based on language and culture and customs. In fact, in the documentary above the narrator notes that the wedding rituals of the community resemble that of present-day Cretans.