Syrians protest outside Russian embassy
(14 Dec 2016) LEAD IN: For a second night, hundreds of Syrians have demonstrated in Berlin against the military attack on the rebel held parts of the Syrian city Aleppo. The demonstrators were overwhelmingly Syrian migrants that have fled the war that has engulfed their home country. STORY-LINE: There are no bombs, snipers or indiscriminate killings in the German capital, Berlin. But these Syrians are crying anyway. They cry for their homeland, for the people they have left behind and for the women and children that are dying in Aleppo. Hundreds of Syrians are demonstrating in the centre of the German capital. It is the second night of such protests. The demonstration starts outside the American embassy, just in front of the iconic Brandenburg Gate. Here the protestors demand that the US do more to stop the Syrian army and Russian attack on the rebel held parts of Aleppo. But when the protestors start marching towards the Russian embassy, the mood turns from sad to angry. "Putin is murder" they scream as they approach the police that are lined up in front of the embassy. "Putin and Assad are criminals" they continue, while waving Syrian flags and homemade signs. These are the people who escaped, some of the hundreds of thousands of migrants that have made their way to Germany since the start of the war in Syria. One of them is Karim Soliaman. As the rest of the protestors jump and scream, Soliaman stands at the side. His right foot is bandaged and held in a prosthetic boot. He was injured by a bomb when filming in a village near Hama. "A barrel bomb," he says. "I was taking photos - I'm a media activist - in the countryside near Hama, in the village of Moreg. And I got injured from a barrel bomb that was dropped by the Syrian airforce." He has now lived in Germany for eight months and is receiving treatment for his injuries. Walking is not easy. But he still joins the marches for Aleppo. "What is happening now in Aleppo is a catastrophe," he says. "They are in danger of genocide." Around 890,000 migrants came to Germany in 2015. The largest group were Syrians fleeing the war. Tens of thousands have settled in Berlin. Samer Sapi comes from Aleppo but has lived in Germany for 18 months. He studies German, meets friends and goes about his daily life. But events in Aleppo are always close, always on the edge of taking over his emotions. "We can't sleep. Our eyes are focused on the TV for 24 hours a day. We try to call our families inside Syria, and in Aleppo, sometimes we get through, sometimes we don't for a long time. The situation is very tragic," he says. Fawaz Tello has lived in Germany for four years. Back in Damascus he worked with groups opposed to the Assad regime. From 2001 to 2006 he was in prison, accused of undermining the government. While most of the protestors are screaming, crying and blaming Assad and Putin, he points the finger at Washington. "We are demonstrating today against Putin and Obama. Why Obama? Because we think that the Obama government is secretly working with the Russians from the first day of the revolution. And what happens now in Syria wouldn't happen without permission, or support, from the Americans for the Russians," he says. Among the Syrians, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel is still mostly celebrated as the woman who let them in to Europe and gave them a chance to start a new life. But Clara Abai, a German-Syrian who lived in Damascus for ten years before moving to Berlin with her family, says that Merkel needs to do more to stop the bloodshed. But by then, there might not be any rebel held areas left of Aleppo. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
