Presidium statement on Afrin and Eastern Ghouta (Syria)

We express our deepest repudiation of the bombings suffered by the people of Afrin in northwest Syria who have claimed the lives of nearly 300 civilians since the 20th of January, 2018. Likewise, we repudiate the bombings carried out in the Eastern Ghouta region, east of Damascus, where dozens of civilians have lost their lives in recent weeks.

We call the entire international community to demand an immediate closure of airspace and a ceasefire by Turkey against Afrin (Syria), as well as a cessation of bombings in eastern Ghouta by the government forces of Syria.

Afrin is a zone located 60 kilometers from the province of Aleppo, which hosts more than 300.000 refugees and displaced people from several regions of the State of Syria (such as Aleppo, Al Raqa, Idlib, Kobane, Azaz, Al-Tabqa, Ihzer, Tel Hazer, Tel Aaran, Kefr Nata among others) who fleed from the different war conflicts that affects the zone and migrate towards Afrin seeking for peace and security. Eastern Ghouta is located a few kilometres from the centre of Damascus, and it is one of the most populous suburbs of the Syrian capital, where thousands of civilians still live.

We express our deepest solidarity with the families of the victims, the refugees and the Kurdish people, as well as to the people of Eastern Ghouta, and we appeal to international organisations to support measures that may allow the establishment of humanitarian corridors, as well as measures that can lead to a lasting peace, and the end of the attack on civilians of Syria.