Opposition members say the Syrian government has depicted the uprising as a radical Sunni insurgency that Alawites must confront.

The Turkish city of Antakya near the border has a similar ethnic mosaic. In the bazaar, the Syrian crisis dominates conversation.

Spice seller Servet Duzgun said Turkey has made the situation worse in Syria.

"I myself am an Alawite," he said, "but I don't think the most important thing should be whether you are Sunni or Alawite, it should be about human values."

There is one thing that unites many of the shopkeepers in this ancient bazaar; the dramatic falloff in business since the conflict began.

Antakya used to be a shopping destination for Syrians, but now few make the trip.

Thaer Abboud did make that journey. An Alawite, Abboud nevertheless had been a pro-democracy activist for many years before the uprising.

"Especially when you are Alawi [Alawite], you are so dangerous for them. You have to be punished twice," he said.

Abboud said he was jailed and tortured for several months last year before escaping to Turkey and leaving many family members behind.

"The whole body of the revolution is a civil one. There is Christians, there is Alawite, there is Druze, there is Sunni," he said. "You can kill a person in body, you can kill thousands, but you cannot kill an ideology. They are trying in vain to kill this ideology of revolution."