War crimes against Kurds and other minorities in Syria: the German federal government must act now
We condemn in the strongest possible terms the ongoing massacres of the Kurdish civilian population in Syria. The attacks by Syrian government troops and other jihadist terrorist groups on Kurdish residential districts in Aleppo and other places are deliberate war crimes. They hit civilians and are directed specifically against Kurds, Yazidis, Christians, Alawites and Druze. With the utmost urgency, we call on the German federal government to:
- Immediately end all political, diplomatic and economic support for the Julani/Al-Sharaa government in Damascus.
- Make the protection of the civilian population a condition for the pledging and disbursement of any future financial aid.
- Recognise the Democratic Self-Administration in north-eastern Syria and support it politically and economically.
- Exert maximum pressure on Turkey within the framework of NATO so that it ceases its military attacks and withdraws from Syria
- Publicly name these attacks for what they are: war crimes!
- Place the protection of Kurds, Yazidis, Christians, Alawites and Druze at the centre of German policy on Syria.
For days now we have been receiving verified reports of bombardments, massacres, abductions and renewed displacements. In the Kurdish districts of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiye in Aleppo alone, around 500,000 people were living until a few days ago, predominantly families who had already been driven out of Afrin in 2018. The Syrian military deliberately declared these districts military targets, although only civilians were present there. Target coordinates of civilian facilities, among them a church, were passed on to Turkish fighter aircraft. Germany must not remain silent about this. Looking away and political deference cost human lives and allow Islamists to murder unhindered. The German federal government must act now and stand by the side of the minorities in Syria who are once again becoming victims of Islamist violence.
We stand in solidarity with the Kurdish population and all persecuted minorities in Syria and demand: Germany and the democratic international community must live up to their responsibility and to their claim to be democracies, and act!
