Parties criticize biased role of media in covering Sheikh Maqsoud attacks

On Monday, 39 political forces and parties in Syria issued a written statement regarding the non-neutral discourse of many Arab media outlets, which adopted the narrative of the Interim Government's mercenaries on the attacks on the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods in Aleppo city, ignoring the reality of what happened there.

The statement included,

In light of the military aggression launched by forces affiliated with the Syrian Interim Authority against the Kurdish neighborhoods of Ashrafiyeh and Sheikh Maqsoud in Aleppo, accompanied by a siege, heavy shelling with various types of weapons, violations against innocent civilians, the mutilation of martyrs' bodies, and the abuse of detainees as a direct targeting of the Kurdish people in collusion with the Turkish occupier, the dangerous role played by some Arab TV channels, most notably Al Jazeera, Al Arabiya, and Al Arabiya Al Hadath, and others, not to mention the government's media, becomes clear through their biased and inflammatory coverage which directly contributed to justifying this aggression and covering up its catastrophic consequences.

These channels dealt with the event selectively and with a biased agenda, ignoring the fact that what happened in Ashrafiyeh and Sheikh Maqsoud was a clear aggression against predominantly Kurdish civilian neighborhoods, a blatant violation of signed agreements and the most basic principles of international humanitarian law, merely repeating the one-sided narratives that justify the use of force and promote a discourse of betrayal and incitement, instead of reporting the truth.

We believe that this media performance falls outside the bounds of journalistic professionalism, clearly aligns with policies of exclusion and denial, fuels hate speech against an integral national component, and constitutes a moral and political assault on the aspirations of Syrians in general, and on the legitimate rights of the Kurdish people in Syria in particular.

Silencing the voices of victims, ignoring the suffering of civilians, and turning a blind eye to the siege and bombardment, while simultaneously hosting biased analysts and promoting narratives that legitimize violence, constitutes indirect complicity in the crime and an inescapable moral responsibility.

Therefore,

We strongly condemn the biased and inflammatory coverage adopted by these channels in their reporting of the events, and we reject any media discourse that justifies the aggression or portrays the targeting of Kurdish neighborhoods as a legitimate security measure.

We affirm that Ashrafiyeh and Sheikh Maqsoud are not arenas for settling political or media scores, but rather civilian Syrian neighborhoods with the full right to security and dignity.

We also call upon Arab media institutions to uphold their ethical responsibilities, adhere to the minimum standards of professionalism and impartiality, cease acting as tools in conflicts, and respect the fact that Syria is a country of diverse ethnicities and cultures, whose future cannot be built on incitement and misinformation.

What happened in Ashrafiyeh and Sheikh Maqsoud will remain a testament to the fact that biased media can be complicit in aggression, and that the truth, no matter how much it is distorted, will remain stronger than all campaigns of misinformation.

The forces and parties that signed the statement:

The Kurdistan National Congress (KNK)

The Democratic Union Party

The Democratic Green Party

The Kurdistan Democratic Peace Party

The Kurdish Liberal Party in Syria

The Kurdistan Communist Party

The Kurdistan Democratic Party – Syria

The Syrian Kurdish Democratic Party

The Kurdish Left Party in Syria

The Kurdish Democratic Left Party in Syria

The Syria Future Party

The Kurdistan Democratic Change Party

The Kurdistan Renewal Movement

The Kurdistan Workers' Union

The Arab National Body

The Democracy and Modernity Party of Syria

The Syrian Kurdish Democratic Accord Party

The Reform Movement – Syria

The Democratic Assyrian Party

The Kurdistan Brotherhood Party

The Kurdish Democratic Roj Party in Syria

The Democratic Society Movement (TEV-DEM)

The Kongra Star Congress

The Conservative Party

The Democratic Struggle Party

The Kurdistan Future Movement

The Kurdistan Democratic Party – West Kurdistan

The Democratic Change Movement

The Syriac Union Party

The Kurdistan National Rally Party

The Kurdish Democratic Party in Syria (al-Parti)

The Kurdish Democratic Unity Party in Syria

The Revolutionary Left Party in Syria

The Syria Party

The Kurdistan Conservative Party

The Syrian Democratic Rally Party

The Syrian Reformist Movement

The Syrian Development and Construction Party

The Armenian Union."

J.J