Turkey cuts off water to Syria’s Hasakah for 6 consecutive days

HASAKAH, Syria (North Press)- Sozdar Ahmed, co-chair of the Directorate of Potable Water in the Autonomous Administration in the city of Hasakah, said that for the six day in a row, Turkish forces are cutting water from the city of Hasakah and its countryside.

She added in a statement to North Press on Wednesday that Russia is continuing with negotiations with Turkey to operate the Alouk water station in Serekaniye countryside, and that the negotiations have not reached any results yet.

She said that rumors of the station’s re-opening are incorrect, and that Turkish forces continue to cut off water to Hasakah and its countryside.

Ahmed said in an earlier interview with North Press that the Autonomous Administration has set conditions for supplying the occupied areas with electricity in exchange for pumping water to the city of Hasakah and its countryside, after Turkish forces repeatedly cut off water.

According to Ahmed, one of their most prominent conditions is the removal of all illegal electricity extensions that Turkish armed groups have placed on the main line, and also confirmed that maintenance workers be allowed to enter the station daily to carry out their duties, in addition to operating 7 out of 8 pumps.

Residents of Hasakah and its countryside suffer from severe difficulties in obtaining safe drinking water, and some are forced to buy water from private tankers while others dig wells to secure water for household needs such as washing and cleaning.

Human Rights Watch said in April that the Turkish forces’ refusal to pump a sufficient amount of water to northeast Syria weakens humanitarian organizations’ ability to empower and protect vulnerable communities.

Alouk Water Station is near the border town of Serekaniye, which Turkey and its militant proxies took over in October 2019 during Turkey’s Peace Spring Operation.

Turkish-backed groups have repeatedly cut off the supply since October, expelling workers from the station as leverage to demand that Kurdish-led local authorities in northeast Syria provide increased electricity to areas under their control before allowing the water to flow again.

Reporting by Delsoz Youssef