‘Stop The Attacks On Kurdish Neighbourhoods in Syria’

We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned about the attacks by military forces of the Syrian Interim Government (SIG) on Kurdish neighbourhoods in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. Starting on 6 January, the two districts of Sheikh Makhsood and Ashrafiyah were bombarded with tanks, artillery and kamikaze drones. According to media reports, dozens of Kurdish civilians have been killed and hundreds more injured, including numerous children and women. These attacks by SIG troops represent a dangerous escalation that deeply jeopardises stability and peace throughout Syria. We therefore call on the SIG to immediately cease all attacks, withdraw all heavy weapons from Aleppo, lift the blockade of the two Kurdish districts and guarantee the safety of the population in Sheikh Makhsood and Ashrafiyah.

Fifteen years ago, the people of Syria took to the streets to demand democracy, freedom and equality. Due in particular to the intervention of external powers, Syria suffered years of war. However, the fundamental demands of the country's diverse social groups have remained unchanged. With the SIG taking power, the Syrians' hopes for a democratic, peaceful and equal future for the country, including all its ethnic and religious components, grew.

In North and East Syria, Kurds, Arabs, Syriacs, Turkmen and Armenians have jointly succeeded in recent years in laying the foundations for a decentralised, diverse and stable Syria in the form of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES). Based on women's freedom, friendship between peoples and democratic self-government, the more than 5 million people of northern and eastern Syria have thus set an important example for the whole of West Asia. In the fight against Islamist proxy forces such as Al-Nusra and Islamic State (IS), the peoples there have lost 12,000 of their daughters and sons.

Since the signing of the memorandum of understanding on 10 March 2025, the DAANES and SIG have been in negotiations regarding political and military integration. The people of Syria hope that these talks will lead to the establishment of a decentralised, democratic and inclusive system in their homeland. Recent talks between the two sides had raised hopes for an early agreement.

The recent attacks by SIG troops on the Kurdish civilian population of Aleppo must stop immediately and once and for all. Only then can an agreement between the DAANES and SIG be reached and Syria achieve its long-deserved peace. Centralism, religious fanaticism and intervention by foreign powers have no place in a democratic and stable Syria. We are therefore also concerned about the Turkish Ministry of Defence's officially declared support for the SIG in its attacks on the Kurdish districts of Aleppo.

We welcome the recent reports of a ceasefire. A return to negotiations and the timely implementation of the memorandum of understanding of 10 March are now necessary. We call on Syria's neighbouring countries and international powers to play a constructive role and contribute to the establishment of a democratic, peaceful and diverse Syria. Provocative and destabilising measures from outside should be avoided at all costs. We call on the international community to encourage the SIG to refrain from further attacks on the peoples’ of Syria, especially the Kurds, Alawites and Druze, and to support a peaceful dialogue between the DAANES and SIG. We are hopeful that the cultures, religions, peoples, women and youth of Syria will very soon begin their long-deserved peaceful, democratic and prosperous life together.

Signed by:

1. Prof. Achin Vanaik - Former Head of Department of Political Science at the University of Delhi - India
2. Feroz Mehdi - Founding member and General Secretary of Alternatives International - India
3. Harsh Kapoor - Editor, Mainstream Weekly - India
4. Pamela Philipose - Journalist - India
5. Prof. Rajeev Bhargava - Director of the Institute of Indian Thought at Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) - India
6. Ranjan Solomon - Author, political commentator and human rights advocate - India
7. Dr. Thomas Ehrlich Reifer - Professor and Chair, Department of Sociology, Affiliated Faculty, Asian Studies, University of San Diego - USA
8. Ajay Mahurkar - Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences at Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) - India
9. Ashok Agarwal - Lawyer - India
10. Prof. Anuradha M. Chenoy - Former Dean of the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University - India
11. Francesco Martone - Former Italian Senator - Italy
12. Dr. Shubhda Chaudhary - Foreign Policy Analyst - India
13. Liz Davies KC - Barrister and King’s Counsel - UK
14. Prof. Sumit Sarkar - Former professor of history at the University of Delhi - India
15. Shuddhabrata Sengupta - Artist, writer and curator, Raqs Media Collective - India
16. Farooq Khan - Politician - India
17. Aneel Prasad Hegde - Former Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha - India
18. Dr. Meera Sethi - Former DGs Special Envoy to India, UN/IOM (International Organization for Migration) - India
19. Miloon Kothari - Visiting Professor, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, and former Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing, UN Human Rights Council - India
20. Kunal Chattopadhyay - Retired Professor, Jadavpur University - India