Relative calm in Syria’s Afrin following wave of protests
ALEPPO, Syria (North Press) – The cities of Afrin and Mare’ in Aleppo northern countryside is witnessing on Sunday a state of relative calm, after a wave of protests over the past two days against the Turkish electricity company.
For two days, several areas in the north and east of Aleppo, which are under the control of Turkey, have witnessed widespread protests against the electricity company after the latter raised the price of each kilowatt of power from 2.45 Turkish liras ($0.15) to 4.50 ($0.27).
Following the killing of some protesters on Friday and Saturday evening, protests renewed in the cities of Mare’ and Afrin.
The protesters in Mare’, a city in Azaz countryside, condemned the company’s policy and accused it of deliberately humiliating the people by imposing prices higher than their purchasing power amid silence of the local council of the city, a local source told North Press.
He added that the demonstrators ignited tires amid calls to dismiss the company’s officials and reduce the price to be commensurate with the economic situation of the majority of the population.
On Friday, a person was killed and two others were injured in a shooting by the Military Police faction in Afrin during protests against the local council.
On March 22, the electricity company raised the price of each 100 KW of power for household consumption from 185 Turkish liras ($11.3) to 245 ($14.9), and each kilowatt of the industrial power was raised from 3 Turkish liras ($0.18) to 3.20 ($0.19).
In early January, cities and towns in east of Aleppo witnessed large-scale public protests against Turkey and its affiliated councils following a decision to raise the electricity price in these areas.
In 2018, the local council of Afrin authorized the private Turkish company AK Energy to provide Afrin and its countryside with electricity by laying high-voltage cables through Bab al-Salama border crossing in the Sejo area, north of the city.