The Co-Presidency of the KCK Executive Council issued a written statement on the attacks against Kurdish neighbourhoods in Aleppo and the Turkish state's policies during this process. 

 

Stating that the attacks in Aleppo were aimed at eliminating the autonomous administration in North and East Syria, the KCK also stated that these attacks were aimed at breaking the ceasefire process.

 

The statement emphasised the need to distance oneself from approaches and policies that sabotage the process, saying, " We have fulfilled our responsibilities in the ‘Peace and Democratic Society’ process without hesitation and with courage. We call on the AKP and MHP government and state officials to take the necessary steps for the success of the ‘Peace and Democratic Society’ process. Our people and the democratic forces must intensify their struggle on a democratic basis to stop the Turkish state’s policies that sabotage the process.” 

 

Statement reads: 

 

“The attack on Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh, the Kurdish neighborhoods of Aleppo, had the aim to de-Kurdify them. Those responsible for maintaining security in these neighborhoods, following the April 1, 2025 agreement between the Damascus interim government and the Autonomous Administration, gave their lives in these attacks. The goal was to eliminate the people’s councils, which are democratic administrations. These attacks, based on hostility towards Kurds, aimed to dismantle the autonomous democratic system established by the Kurdish people, together with Arabs, Assyrians, and other peoples, throughout all of Syria. These attacks are a continuation and part of the attacks on the gains achieved by Kurds in all the countries they live in.

 

When the gangs and mercenaries affiliated with the Turkish state launched their attack on Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh, the Kurdish neighborhoods of Aleppo, the Asayish (local security forces) resorted to self-defense resistance. Self-defense against attacks aimed at de-Kurdification and annihilation is a legitimate right. The people’s council of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh and its people put up a resistance in order to defend their democratic self-administration based on the April 1st agreement. However, forces in Syria that try to prevent the development of democracy in the country have launched an attack, starting with the neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh, in order to destroy the Autonomous Administration that established a democratic system in Syria.

 

We respectfully and gratefully commemorate those who put up a heroic resistance against these attacks and fell as martyrs, and we wish a speedy recovery to all those wounded in the resistance. We also call on the people who were driven out of their neighborhoods and scattered across many areas in an effort to de-Kurdify the area to return to their homes by insisting on their legitimate rights. The aspirations of the martyrs and the sacrifices made will live on in a democratic Syria and within Autonomous Administrations.

 

It is noteworthy that these attacks took place after talks between the US, Israel, the Damascus transitional regime, and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. The day the agreement to hand over southern Damascus to Israel was made, attacks were launched on the Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo. The fact that the talks in Damascus were interrupted and attacks were launched on the very neighborhoods whose status was determined on April 1, 2025, shows that the approval of the US and international powers in the region was obtained or that their silence was secured. It is also known that the US and France mediated the talks between Damascus and the delegation of North and East Syria.

 

The Turkish state has been involved in the attacks on Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo from the very beginning. Statements by Turkish state officials and media outlets close to the AKP-MHP government have made this clear. Turkey’s press and state officials have adopted an approach as if the Turkish army itself were at war. As a matter of fact, the command of SDF declared that Turkish state drones and tanks were involved in this war. They even stated that Turkish officers were actively involved in conducting this war. The Turkish state’s policy is entirely based on hostility towards the Kurds through its opposition to the SDF. They have continued their hostile narrative and attacks against the Kurds and the Kurdish freedom movement during the de-Kurdification attacks in Aleppo, even before the call of Kurdish people’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, on February 27, 2025.

 

While the PKK has taken the decision to dissolve itself and a ceasefire has been in place since March 1, 2025, these attacks on Kurdish neighborhoods, constantly invoking the PKK, are also an attack aimed at undermining the freedom movement and the ceasefire it has meticulously implemented. On the one side talking about a process, while at the same time constantly insulting and attacking the freedom movement that is part of this process! How can Kurdish people’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan’s ‘Call for Peace and Democratic Society,’ based on the abandonment of armed struggle and a ceasefire, be sustained in regard to such an approach? Attacking the Kurds by constantly referring to ‘terror’ and ‘terrorism’ and at the same time talking about ‘Kurdish-Turkish brotherhood’ – it is obvious that like this, that has no credibility for the Kurds.

 

The attack on the Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo and the approach and attitude of state officials towards our movement sabotage the ‘Peace and Democratic Society’ process. This attack also took place during a period of ongoing talks between the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and the interim Damascus government. Kurdish people’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, wanted no clashes in terms of the implementation of the March 10 agreement and wanted steps to be taken towards resolving the issues. He conveyed his message to the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria to take steps regarding the matters of oil, border crossings, and some other issues. As the Kurdish freedom movement, we also encouraged the taking of such steps and the creation of a confidence-building environment for the resolution of issues. The fact that this attack took place at a time when such initiatives and steps were being taken reveals that a solution in Syria is not desired. It is clear that their aim is not to reach an agreement with North and East Syria, but to eliminate the Autonomous Administration.

 

The Turkish government spokesperson, Ömer Çelik, has clearly stated that these attacks will not be limited to Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo. Ömer Çelik’s use of the phrases ‘a Turkey free of terrorism’ and ‘a region free of terrorism’ together indicates that these attacks will spread to all of North and East Syria and the entire region where Kurds live. They label the Kurds’ struggle for freedom and democracy as terrorism. They want to eliminate the democratic system in Rojava and North and East Syria with the utilization of this label. In short, hostility towards the Kurds is tantamount to hostility towards democracy in every country where Kurds live.

 

The international forces also support this hostility towards democracy in the Middle East. This support amounts to backing genocidal policies against the Kurds. Indeed, when attacks occur against the Kurds, these attacks are either approved or met with silence. This reality was once more seen in the attacks on the Kurdish neighborhoods of Aleppo.

 

The attacks on Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh and the preparations for attacks on the east of the Euphrates also call into question the ceasefire between our movement and Turkey and the ongoing ‘Peace and Democratic Society’ process based on it. In this process, the attacks directly targeting our movement show that the special transition law that is said to be in preparation will not be a step towards a solution. While so many attacks are being carried out against our movement and the democratic will of the Kurds is being attacked, it seems unlikely for this law to be of a nature that will open up a democratic political space for our movement and the Kurds. It begs the question of whether a law is in preparation that will not be acceptable in order to start a war. The policies and practices that sabotage the ceasefire and the ‘Peace and Democratic Society’ process suggest this.

 

State officials and responsible political forces have to adopt a policy and approach in line with the spirit and purpose of the current process and refrain from steps and practices that sabotage the process.

 

We have fulfilled our responsibilities in the ‘Peace and Democratic Society’ process without hesitation and with courage. We call on the AKP and MHP government and state officials to take the necessary steps for the success of the ‘Peace and Democratic Society’ process.

 

Our people and the democratic forces must intensify their struggle on a democratic basis to stop the Turkish state’s policies that sabotage the process.”