The embargo imposed by the Damascus government on the Şêxmeqsûd and Eşrefiye neighborhoods is described as a war crime by Luqman Ehmê, who remarked that the government should form a dialogue with the Syrian people in order to resolve the problem.
The Damascus government maintains a strict embargo on the Aleppo neighbourhoods of Şêxmeqsûd (Sheikh Maqsoud) and Eşrefiye (Ashrafiyah), preventing food supplies from entering both. The Damascus government's goal is to make the citizens of both areas reliant on the Damascus government. Citizens, however, continue to express strong opposition to these activities.
Speaking to ANHA on the subject, Luqman Ehmê, Spokesperson of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, emphasized that the Damascus government's policies are not new and that the government has taken the same path in most cities that oppose embargo policies, but has not been successful.
POLICY OF EMBARGO AND SIEGE
Luqman Ehmê said that "The goal of this program is to impose servitude through famine on the people of Şêxmeqsûd and Eşrefiye. Our experience has shown that this policy has had no effect. Surprisingly, the Damascus administration represents the Syrian people and Syrian sovereignty by enforcing a policy of embargo and siege for the people to accept this sovereignty.
Ehmê stated that what has been done is in violation of international and human law and that this policy is a war crime. He continued, "The regime of Damascus is pursuing a starvation policy against more than 200,000 Syrian citizens. The autonomous administration opposes this situation and what has occurred, deeming it unacceptable.
'THE GOVERNMENT OF DAMASCUS CANNOT ESTABLISH ITS SOVEREIGNTY ON SYRIAN LANDS'
Inviting the government to dialogue, Ehmê said, "The administration of Damascus should resort to dialogue instead of besieging and starving its people. Today, the 11th year of the Syrian crisis, dialogue is an inevitable path. The Damascus government cannot maintain its sovereignty over Syrian land without dialogue and a political resolution. The Syrian people will be unable to recognize this sovereignty if this is not done."
DIALOGUE IS THE ONLY SOLUTION
The Autonomous Administration believes that dialogue is the only way to address the Syrian issue and all of the conflicts between Syrian sides and that a peaceful political solution that meets the aims and hopes of all components of the Syrian people flows through here, Ehmê said.
Ehme pointed out that the Damascus government's embargo policy against the residents of Eşrefiye and Şêxmeqsûd is due to the fact that the majority of the residents of the area are Kurds, and the Damascus administration does not recognize other parties other than itself.
The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria Spokesman remarked that these policies will produce no results and concluded his words by saying, "The residents of the two besieged neighborhoods believe in their project, which is the main foundation of managing their regions and resolving the Syrian crisis, and they are committed to their political projects."
