The Washington Kurdish Institute (WKI) condemns in the strongest possible terms the assault on the Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh in Aleppo. This assault is marked by siege tactics, indiscriminate shelling, and evacuation orders that are driving mass displacement and placing civilians directly in harm’s way.
Tens of thousands have already been uprooted from Aleppo amid these attacks. We unequivocally denounce the regime in Damascus and its armed gangs, including the factions and militias now operating as instruments of terror inside Syria’s cities. Their actions are forcibly emptying Kurdish neighborhoods and killing civilians.
We also denounce the Turkish-backed gangs that Kurdish reporting identifies as participants in these attacks. These militias, empowered by years of external sponsorship and impunity, are fueling the same machinery of displacement, intimidation, and violence against Kurds in Aleppo.
We place direct blame on Western powers who clapped and throned a terrorist as a president while Kurds are paying the price. The West cannot posture about “stability” while legitimizing a terrorist president, unleashing armed gangs, and looking away as Kurdish civilians are displaced, terrorized, and killed.
Washington Kurdish Institute | January 8, 2026