Turkish army cuts off water from Syria’s Hasakah and its countryside
TEL TAMR, Syria (North Press) – The Turkish army continues to cut off water for the 10th consecutive day from the Alouk Water Station in the Sere Kaniye countryside (Ras al-Ain), which feeds about one million residents of Syria’s Hasakah and its countryside with water.
Khalid Hami, an administrator at the Water Directorate in the town of Tel Tamr, north of Hasakah, told North Press that the Turkish army prevents maintenance workers from entering Alouk Water Station.
Since they took control of the station in late 2019, following a military operation in Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad (Gire Spi), the Turkish forces cut water more than ten times, some of which reached nearly a month, amid UN warnings of causing disasters in light of the outbreak of coronavirus.
Early in August, the Turkish forces stopped operating the Alouk station, causing water cuts for about one million residents and IDPs in Hasakah and its countryside, in conjunction with the outbreak of coronavirus.
Since the Turkish forces occupied Sere Kaniye region and controlled the Alouk Water Station in 2019, they have cut off the water that feeds Hasakah, Tel Tamer, Shaddadi and its countryside for about 10 times.
Hami said that the Turkish army demands that the Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad areas be fed 24-hour electricity with a capacity of 32 megawatts.
A meeting was held recently between representatives of the Autonomous Administration, Syrian government, and Russian troops near Qamishli city, northeast Syria, regarding the water cut-off in Hasakah, according to the Administration sources.
The two parties agreed to re-operate Alouk station at full capacity of 12 pumps and 30 wells, providing the city of Hasakah with water, in turn for providing Sere Kaniye with 25 megawatts of electricity 12 hours per day.