Sectarianism as timeless, a-historical essence, which figures so prominently in the popular accounts of the war in Syria (and elsewhere) has been effectively challenged by historians of the Modern Middle East. Nonetheless, sectarian identification is a reality in the Syrian conflict and sub-national communal organizations and groups are making decisions to fight or remain neutral. Religious and ethnic identification is a reality of the conflict and especially so amongst vulnerable minority communities like that of the descendents of Armenian-genocide era Armenian refugees. This paper seeks to explain choices made by that community in the present with reference to the “régime de cloisons étanche” of interwar French colonial politics and makes the argument that Armenian communal relationships to power and authority in Syria were first developed in that context and have remained similar, even though those in power have changed.