International silence corroborates participation in Turkey's Euphrates disaster

The Turkish occupation state has spared no effort to clamp down on the people of north and east Syria, starting with the support of mercenaries who launched attacks on the areas of north and east Syria, then direct intervention through its army to occupy several areas, in addition to imposing a siege on the area by closing all crossings and cutting off Alouk station water on Al-Hasakah people, and finally the blocking of the Euphrates River water, with the aim of undermining the Autonomous Administration and imposing its occupational policies on the people of the region.

'Water is Turkey's blackmail note against north and east Syria'

With the beginning of the July 19^th Revolution, Turkey began to gradually withhold the water of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, which directly affected the residents' lives, amid the guarantor countries evading their responsibilities. This policy was described as a water war against north and east Syria, as from 2014 to late 2020 Turkey has blocked the Euphrates River water 13 times.

What encouraged Turkey to use water as a blackmail chip against the residents of north and east Syria in particular, Syria and Iraq in general were the current political situations that Syria and Iraq are going through and the international community's silence, as there is no international or regional monitoring, and Turkey’s practices are inconsistent with international law.

'The Turkish war against Kurds is not only military'

Secretary of the Kurdish Left Party in Syria Mohammed Musa said: "The Turkish war against Kurds is not only military, but rather a military, economic and political war, and this war continues against the will of the Kurdish people."

Mohammed Musa indicated that Turkey realized that the military war against the people of north and east Syria was not enough, so it launched an economic, political and water war.

However, there was no international reaction to the practices of the Turkish occupation despite the human rights organizations' detailed reports about them.

'International community has something to do with the crimes taking place in the region'

Ahmed Dawoud, the Co-chair of the Human Rights Organization in the Euphrates region, explained that cutting off the Euphrates water is a violation in and of itself because it directly affects human lives. He said, "Cutting off water is part of a series of policies practiced against the people of the region."

Ahmed Dawoud said: "Turkey has gone too far in its crimes against the people of the region and reached the point of weaponizin water, as a result of the international silence towards the crimes and violations committed by the Turkish occupation state." He explained that the blocking of water directly affected agriculture, the environment and health.

The Human Rights Organization in Al-Jazira region prepared a comprehensive 21-page report on the state of the Euphrates water, and sent it to several international organizations such as the European Rights Committee and the United Nations Chamber of Civil Society, but these organizations did not respond to the report, according to the organization's administration.

The General Administration of Dams in the areas of north and east Syria revealed that the amount of water coming from the Euphrates River to the Syrian lands recorded a decrease, reaching less than 200 m3 / s.

The blocking of the Euphrates water threatens the food security of more than 5,000,000 people, and its decline negatively affected electric power, the environment, agriculture, fishery resources and livestock. As for the reservoir of the Euphrates Dam, it remains less than 6 billion m3 and will be used for drinking water in the coming period according to the General Administration of Dams.

The Administrator of the Human Rights Organization in Al-Jazira region, Avin Jumah, said to Hawar news agency that according to international laws, withholding water is a war crime, causing desertification in the region and threatening the food security of the region's population.

Avin Jumah stated that threatening food security of any society is considered social genocide according to international and humanitarian covenants and conventions.

'Turkey throws trash into Euphrates riverbed'

Avin Jumah revealed that after the water level of the Euphrates declined, it has become clear that the Turkish occupation state is throwing waste into the water flowing to the area, noting that "the flowing water cannot be used now, and it needs sterilization pumps. In addition, the decrease in water has affected the work of the pumps, so that about 30 pumps have stopped working."

In turn, the Directorate of Water in Deir Ezzor confirmed that the low and stagnant water levels led to the formation of shallow ponds, swamps and the growth of toxic algae along the riverbed in Deir Ezzor areas, which raises fears of the people of the spread of diseases and epidemics.

'A real disaster is being witnessed in the region'

Abdo Abdel Qader, Head of Water Stations in Raqqa, said: "There are 9 infiltration wells here, including 20 horizontal pumps between raw and direct, which are used to sterilize the river's water so that it would be safe to drink."

The Euphrates River is the main and only source of drinking and irrigation water for the people of Raqqa, which number about one million and 300 thousand people. Within the region of Raqqa there are 36 stations, distributed over 7 water units, 14 stations on the bed of the Euphrates River.

Abdel Qader explained that 6 stations on the bed of the Euphrates River in Raqqa region are out of service due to the low water level, and if the water flow rate of the Euphrates decreased to less than 200 m3 / s, the rest of the stations would be out of service, and then we would not be able to sterilize water, we would witness a real humanitarian catastrophe, and water wells would be contaminated."

D.H

ANHA