Turkish-occupied Alouk pumps water to Syria’s Hasakah after 88 days cutoff
HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – On Wednesday, Alouk water station in the city of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain), north Syria, resumed pumping water to the city of Hasakah and its countryside after 88-day-cutoff.
Issa Younis, co-chair of Water Directorate in Hasakah, told North Press water was pumped to the town of Tel Tamr in the countryside of Hasakah late on Wednesday.
Younis added that pumping is still weak, noting that water has not reached reservoirs of al-Hemma that supply Hasakah with water.
He expected water to reach the reservoirs in the few coming hours.
Since early August, Turkish forces and their affiliated Syrian opposition factions, also known as Syrian National Army (SNA), have stopped water pumping from the station to nine neighborhoods in Hasakah and its countryside.
Since 2019, Turkey and SNA factions have cut off water coming from the station to Hasakah and its countryside 27 times.
Alouk water station, which lies in the city of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) in the northern countryside of Hasakah, is the only water resource feeding Hasakah and its countryside. The station is controlled by Turkey and its affiliated SNA since 2019.
In 2019, Turkish forces and the SNA factions launched the “Peace Spring” military operation where it occupied Sere Kaniye and its countryside.
Turkey’s cutoffs threaten about a million and a half people with a real disaster as cholera infections record a notable spike in the region.
On September 26, Hasakah governor Louay Sayoh called on the United Nations and international organizations to pressure Turkey to supply the city with water, and to keep water away from the military and political conflicts in the region.
In a previous statement to North Press Younis said, “This is the longest period that Turkey has cut off water to the city and its countryside since it took control of the Alouk station.”