ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Syrian foreign ministry on Saturday said the army’s recent operation in the Kurdish-majority neighborhoods in Aleppo is not aimed at changing demographics in the diverse city.
In a lengthy statement, the ministry thanked the international community, including President Masoud Barzani, for their peacemaking efforts following several days of clashes between the Syrian Arab Army and Kurdish forces in Aleppo.
The ministry said it carried out a “limited and targeted law-enforcement operation” in Aleppo’s Kurdish-majority neighborhoods of Ashrafiyeh and Sheikh Maqsood, where fighting intensified Saturday. The Syrian Arab Army announced the operation, which aimed to expel local Kurdish forces, ended on Saturday. Kurdish forces said they were continuing to fight and held pockets of the neighborhoods.
The Erbil-headquartered Barzani Charity Foundation, which has an office in the Kurdish city of Afrin in northwestern Syria, has reported that an estimated 150,000 residents had fled and were displaced to Afrin, raising fears that Kurds could be depopulated from the neighborhoods. Many residents were originally from Afrin and were expelled by Turkish-backed armed groups in 2018 after the militants controlled the city from Kurdish fighters.
The Syrian army’s operations in Aleppo aimed to expel Kurdish fighters from Arab-majority Aleppo neighborhoods to Tabqa in the Kurdish region of northeast Syria (Rojava). Fighters and local officials pledged to continue fighting until residents were guaranteed safety and political representation.
The Syrian foreign ministry said the attacks were "based on the principles of necessity and proportionality and do not target the Kurdish community, which is considered an integral part of Aleppo’s social fabric and an active partner in national institutions.