PKK Attacks Aleppo Graduation, Injuring Students

[Anthea]

PKK Attacks Aleppo Graduation

A group of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) members attacked students and their families during a graduation ceremony in Aleppo, Syria, injuring several people. Local activists are now calling for the perpetrators to be punished

Mustafa Shekho, a local activist, informed BasNews that the Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement —militant youth wing of the PKK—brutally attacked the students in the Sheikh Maqsood neighborhood of Aleppo during their graduation ceremony. The event was organized by the Kursiedish Democratic Unity Party in Syria (Yekiti). The motive behind the attack remains unclear.

According to Shekho, many students and attendees were injured and had to be rushed to the hospital.

The Syrian Network for Human Rights strongly condemned the attack, which disrupted the students' celebration. The PKK members targeted students, their friends, and relatives, creating fear and anxiety among the celebrants. They also destroyed equipment used for the ceremony.

Yekiti in Aleppo, an ally of the Democratic Union Party (PYD)—the political wing of the PKK in Syrian Kurdistan—also condemned the attack.

In a statement, Yekiti explained: “On Saturday evening, September 7, over 200 students who had passed their high school examinations gathered with a large crowd of relatives at Starlight Hall in the Sheikh Maqsood neighborhood to celebrate and receive awards from our organization. About 30 young members of the revolutionary group and their leader entered the hall. Although we welcomed them, they began attacking the presenter and chanting slogans for Abdullah Öcalan when the ceremony started. They targeted the organizers, beat the students and attendees, broke chairs and tables, and burned our organization's flag, all without providing any reason for their actions.”

The statement continued: “Our organization has hosted this annual celebration for graduates, including a similar event on August 19, 2024, at the same location. Following the incident and the dispersal of attendees, a large number of security forces arrived at the scene.”

Yekiti emphasized that the attack was premeditated and contrary to ethical and human rights standards, as well as local laws and principles. They called on the regional administration to investigate the incident and hold the perpetrators accountable, asserting that their role should have been to protect the ceremony, not endanger lives and property.

“We also urge the regional administration to conduct a thorough investigation and punish those responsible. They should have protected the ceremony, not violated the lives and property of the attendees,” the Yekiti statement concluded.

https://www.basnews.com/en/babat/859860