Protests in Opposition-held Aleppo Denounce Government’s Chemical Weapons Use
ALEPPO, Syria (North Press) – Activists called for organizing a sit-in on Friday to denounce the use of chemical weapons against Syrians in 2018 by government forces.
On January 27, The Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said there are “reasonable grounds” to believe that the Air Force of the Syrian government were the perpetrators of a chemical weapons attack on April 7, 2018 in Douma, in Rif Dimasq Governorate, southern Syria.
The “Unified Revolutionary Movement,” an opposition activist group in the northern regions of Aleppo, said in a statement that the demonstrators will not give up their right to hold the Syrian government accountable for the crimes committed against Syrians.
The statement confirmed that the gathering will take place in “Future Square” in the center of the city of Azaz north of Aleppo immediately after Friday prayers.
An exclusive source told North Press that the protests will also be in opposition to Turkish ambitions to normalize relations with Syria.
Late in December 2022, a trilateral meeting took place between defense ministers of Turkey, Syria and Russia in Moscow, marking the first meeting between Syria and Turkey since start of Syrian war in 2011.
Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, said on Jan. 31 there was an agreement in principle for Iran to join the rapprochement process between Syria and Turkey.
Syria and Turkey have been foes for the last 11 years, after Ankara started backing the Syrian opposition and its armed factions that have attempted to overthrow the Syrian government.