DAMASCUS (Dispatches) -- Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets in Christian areas of Damascus early Tuesday to protest the burning of a Christmas tree near Hama in central Syria.
“We demand the rights of Christians,” protesters chanted as they marched through the Syrian capital towards the headquarters of the Orthodox Patriarchate in the Bab Sharqi neighborhood.
The protests come a little more than two weeks after an armed coalition led by takfiri militants toppled the government of Bashar al-Assad, who had protected minorities in the Muslim-majority country.
A demonstrator who gave his name as Georges told AFP he was protesting “injustice against Christians”.
“If we’re not allowed to live our Christian faith in our country, as we used to, then we don’t belong here anymore,” he said.
The protests erupted after a video spread on social media showing hooded militants setting fire to a Christmas tree in the Christian-majority town of Suqaylabiyah, near Hama.
According to the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the militants were foreigners from the takfiri group Ansar al-Tawhid.
In another video posted to social media, a religious leader from Syria’s victorious militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) addressed residents, claiming those who torched the tree were “not Syrian” and promising they would be punished.
The HTS administration, rooted in Al-Qaeda and supported by Turkey, has faced numerous bouts of unrest since its lightning onslaught toppled Assad this month. 
On Monday, UN envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen warned of “dramatic consequences” of escalating hostilities between Kurdish-led militants and Turkish-backed groups in Syria’s northeast.
“If the situation in the northeast is not handled correctly, it could be
 a very bad omen for the whole of Syria,” Pedersen was quoted as saying. “If we fail here, it would have dramatic consequences when it comes to new displacement.”
Since Assad was ousted on December 8, hostilities have escalated between Turkish-supported militants and the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who is backed by the U.S.
Ankara-backed armed groups took control of the SDF-held city of Manbij on December 9 and are reportedly preparing for an onslaught on the strategic city of Ayn al-Arab or Kobani on the northern border with Turkey. Turkish jets have pounded Kobani in recent days.
The Kurdish YPG-led SDF has proposed to withdraw its forces from the area in exchange for a complete truce. But Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, speaking alongside Syria’s de facto new leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani on Sunday in Damascus, said the YPG should disband totally.
Ankara views the YPG as a terrorist organization tied to the homegrown Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been seeking an autonomous Kurdish region in Turkey since 1984.
Pedersen said a political solution “would require serious, serious compromises” and should be part of the “transitional phase” led by HTS administration.
With the ongoing fighting, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi has expressed concern about a strong Daesh resurgence due to the power vacuum in Syria.
Tens of thousands of children, family members, and supporters of Daesh terrorists are still held in large detention centers in northeastern Syria, in areas under SDF control. 
The Israeli military has carried out nearly 500 strikes against Syrian military and civilian infrastructure, while its troops moved into a demilitarized zone in the Golan Heights that was established following the 1973 Middle East war.