Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) Spokesman Luqman Ehmê announced the administration’s call for dialogue with the Damascus government to discuss the regime’s embargoes on two Kurdish-majority neighbourhoods in Syria’s Aleppo province.
“The Damascus government should opt for dialogue instead of forcing siege and hunger on the people. As the Syrian crisis enters year 11, dialogue is imperative. Damascus cannot establish sovereignty over Syrian lands without dialogue and a political solution, otherwise the people will not accept such dominion,” Ehmê told Kurdish news agency ANHA.
The Damascus government continues its embargoes on the Sheikhmaqshud (Şêxmeqsûd) and Ashrafiya (Eşrefiyê) neighbourhoods, hindering essential food supplies. The neighbourhood residents protested against the embargoes with a mass rally on 9 April.
An embargo on basic and essential needs such as food violates international and humanitarian law, and constitutes a war crime, Ehmê said. He added:
“The Damascus government is utilising a policy of hunger against more than 200,000 Syrian civilians. The Autonomous Administration rejects this, and believes these recent events to be unacceptable.”