General Council of Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafieh Neighborhoods condemns murder of young man in Afrin

The General Council of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh Neighborhoods issued a statement to the public today. The statement was read by the co-chair of the General Council of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh Neighborhoods, Hevin Suleiman, in the presence of dozens of members, representatives of political parties, and civil society organizations, in Martyrs' Square, located in the western part of the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in Aleppo.

The statement indicated that: "Following the events that occurred in Syria, the fall of the fascist regime, and the assumption of power by the transitional government headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa, and in order to build a participatory, democratic, pluralistic, and decentralized Syria that includes all Syrian components, an agreement was signed between the head of the transitional government, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, General Mazloum Abdi."

The statement indicated the contents of the agreement: "In order to rebuild Syria according to democratic principles to protect the Syrian people of all stripes, an agreement was concluded between the civil council in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods on one side and representatives of the transitional government in Aleppo on the other, on April 1. The agreement stipulates fourteen clauses."

The statement highlighted clauses eight and nine, which: "guarantee freedom of movement for residents of the aforementioned neighborhoods, prevent the persecution or harassment of anyone who was persecuted prior to the agreement and whose hands were not stained with Syrian blood, and form coordination committees to facilitate movement between the city of Aleppo and the regions of north and east Syria."

The statement drew attention to the violations: "However, recently, the agreement has been violated, and there has been an increase in arrests, arbitrary repression, and assassinations of Kurds, especially in Afrin. The most recent was the murder of young Mustafa Jamil Sheikho, in addition to the arrest of tanker drivers on the Aleppo-Deir Hafer road under flimsy pretexts and various pretexts by roadblocks deployed along the roads."

The statement "categorically rejected these violations" and denounced "the arbitrary killings and arrests in Afrin and all Syrian regions."

It affirmed "our full commitment to the terms of the agreement concluded with the transitional government, and we demand that it, in turn, abide by the terms of the agreement and protect all Syrian society."

The statement called for "holding accountable the perpetrators of crimes in occupied Afrin and throughout Syria, releasing detainees as quickly and unconditionally as possible, and for representatives of the transitional government in Damascus to abide by the agreement it concluded with the General Council on April 1."