Original article for Trax News
Trump announced the withdrawal of US troops from Rojava in 2019 which left Turkey free to invade it. In 1992 the Turkish government built 22 dams which control 90% of the water flow of two of the main rivers, Eupharates and Tigris, to the Kurdish areas in Northeast Syria. The main source of water (Allouk) was then bombed, and has since been turned off five times. The city of Heseke and 65% of the total population, which is about one million people, depend on the Allouk water station as there is no other source of water. Heseke includes the displacement (refugee) camps al-Hol and Areeseh which is the home of thousands of vulnerable communities of Assyrians, Kurds, Armenians, Syrians, Iraqi’s, and Yezidi’s who escaped from ISIS controlled areas.
Access to water is seen internationally as a basic human right and by definition these actions by Turkey violate such International human rights laws. Basically, the laws state that all parties in armed conflict must protect objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, including those necessary for water distribution and sanitization. Water should also be supplied to de-facto authorities as an obligation to governments. By controlling the water supply Turkey is weaponizing this basic enmity for life. Human Rights Watch Middle East Director Michael Page has stated, “In the midst of a global pandemic that is overloading sophisticated governance and infrastructure systems, Turkish authorities have been cutting off the water supply to regions most under strain in Syria. The Turkish authorities should do everything they can to immediately resume supply to these communities.”
Turkey’s cutting of the water supply is a strategic move, which is seen by many as an acceleration of the genocide on ethnic minorities. Local authorities and humanitarian groups are already facing difficulties accessing supplies, as the border of the Kurdistan region of Iraq is closed. Now basic handwashing cannot be implemented.
“If there is no water, and people cannot clean, it creates a big opportunity for Coronavirus to spread in our city. Keeping clean is the foundation of protecting ourselves against Coronavirus” – Sozda Ahmed co-chair of the Water Bureau for Heseke canton.
Not only is the lack of water a major concern for those citizens deprived in Northeast Syria, but it could also result in danger for Turkey itself if the Coronavirus spread is not controlled.
