Issa Younes, the co-chair of the water directorate in Hasaka, told local media on Monday that Ankara had suspended the flow of water from Alouk water station in northern Syria more than 40 times in only eight months.
Turkey and its Syrian proxies seized control of Alouk water station during the code-named Operation Peace Spring in October 2019 after taking control of the towns of Sari Kani (Ras al-Ain) and Gire Spi (Tal Abyad). These areas were previously controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The military offensive damaged the station, located in Sari Kani, and cut areas to the south off from their water supply.
“The Turkish ongoing water cut off increased the suffering of the residents who endure real tragedy,” Younes was cited by the North Press Agency as saying. He added that they had provided power to the station since April 18 to keep it operating but the attempt was fruitless.
NPA also reported that the Kurdish administration and the Turkey-backed militants reached an agreement, mediated by the United Nations, on June 3 which stipulates that the Kurds would provide electricity to rebel-held areas in return for the pumping of water from Alouk station to Hasaka.
The co-chair of the water directorate accused Ankara of violating the agreement.
"The continuation of this real disaster is the result of the agreement of the two countries, Russia and Turkey, and the blessing of the Syrian regime to stifle our people and annihilate their democratic experience،” Younes said in his statement.
In 2019 the Turkish army and the so-called SNA, its proxy-militias, occupied the M4-Strip including Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) and its countryside, where the station is located.
— Rojava Information Center (@RojavaIC) July 3, 2023
According to Issa Younes, since then Turkey has suspended the water supply via Alouk station 40 times. pic.twitter.com/WgpHwRhMAF
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in its Cholera report in November 2022 that half a million people in Hasaka did not have access to “sufficient quantities of safe water” at the time.
Younes accused the international community of choosing silence while a “crime against humanity” is being committed.
“Up to 1 million people [are] at risk due to severe interruptions to Alouk Water Station” in northeast Syria (Rojava),” warned the United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria, Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, and UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa in a joint statement in July 2021.
Without mentioning Turkey and its proxies, the three UN officials called for the resumption of water and electricity services. “We remind all parties that water stations are civilian infrastructure that should be protected at all times,” they stated.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry responded the following day, saying they were in regular contact with the UN regarding the humanitarian situation in Syria and claimed the UN statement “contains factual mistakes as well as incomplete and misleading information.”
Local officials in Hasaka resorted to drawing water from wells in recent years but this did resolve the issue.
Turkish officials have placed blame for the problem on the Kurdish authorities, who they say cut electricity to Sari Kani and Gire Spi, leaving the Alouk station with no power.
Turkey and Syria signed an agreement in 1987 that stipulates Turkey should release from its dams 500 cubic meters of water per second down the Euphrates River and across the border. However, Turkey has routinely failed to do this since Kurds took control of the dams during the Syrian conflict.