Euphrates dies.. Turkish occupation state continues to cut livelihoods

The waters of the Euphrates River drops out from large areas of northern and eastern Syria, months after the Turkish occupation state began impounding large quantities of river water from Syrian territory.

 Since the beginning of 2018, Turkey began to imprison the waters of the Euphrates River from Syrian territory, but intermittently, as it used to cut off the water for weeks and then release it for other weeks, but the incoming level was better than the current one.

 In the last two years, the Turkish occupation state imprisoned large quantities of the Euphrates River for consecutive months.  Since last March, it has not released only 200 cubic meters of water per second into Syrian territory, while it was supposed to release more than 500 cubic meters per second according to an agreement signed between Ankara and Damascus in 1987 and registered with the United Nations.

Since last March, the Turkish occupation state has been continuously releasing the minimum amount of Euphrates water, and this percentage of water is hardly enough to operate the dams.

Cutting off the Euphrates waters is one of the many means used by the Turkish occupation state in fighting northern and eastern Syria.  Since the start of the revolution of July 19, 2012, the air and ground attacks launched by the occupying power on the region have not subsided, in addition to the recruitment of agents and the defamation of the Autonomous Administration.

 Devastating effects .. food security is threatened!

 The effects of this war appeared quickly in Syria, as the lakes on the Euphrates river lost a large proportion of their strategic stocks, which led to a decrease in the hours of electricity generation, in addition to a decrease in the quantity of water supply to farmers, and hundreds of them are now facing difficulty in obtaining water to irrigate their crops.

 The farmer from the village of Al-Auja in the countryside of Raqqa, Ahmed Al-Ahmad, says that the percentage of water that reaches their agricultural lands is small.

 He added, " The crops die because of the lack of water, and this is very harmful to us," noting that livestock breeders suffer like them.

 Farmer Aboud al-Gharib, a resident of the village of Kasra al-Faraj in the countryside of Raqqa, says that the lack of water affects their agriculture.

He continues by saying: "The lack of water also caused diseases. Here on the banks of the Euphrates we see a significant decrease in the level of the Euphrates caused by Turkey.

 The water quality also decreased and the Euphrates stream was polluted, which turned into a swamp due to the water stopping the flow and the accumulation of waste, which led to the outbreak of diseases.

 The Health Authority in North and East Syria has recorded cases of cholera in a precedent that did not occur in the region, in the areas adjacent to the Euphrates River, which is believed to be the primary source of the disease's spread.

 Joan Mustafa, co-chair of the Health Authority in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, revealed in a press conference held on September 21, that the first case of cholera appeared in the western countryside of Deir Ezzor, which is the epicenter of the disease’s spread along with Raqqa, Tabqa and Hasaka.

 He explained that there have been 2,867 suspected cases of cholera since September 5, while 16 deaths have been reported.

 As for the confirmed cases, Mustafa said: "43 confirmed cases in the western countryside of Deir ez-Zor, 16 cases in the city of Raqqa, 4 confirmed cases in the city of Tabqa, and 15 confirmed cases in the Jazira region. Most of the cases are in the city of Hasaka."

 Earlier this week, the Ministry of Health of the Damascus government announced that 253 cholera cases and 23 deaths had been recorded.

"It is believed that the outbreak of the disease is linked to the irrigation of crops with contaminated water and people drinking unsafe water from the Euphrates River, which divides Syria from north to east," the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, Imran Reza, said in a statement on September 13.

 dangerous future

 The regions of northern and eastern Syria are going through difficult times these days, and the region faces a multifaceted danger.  Food security is under threat, as is health security, so that the region is in the midst of a disaster whose consequences will be the title of the next stage.

 The spread of cholera and the associated diseases that come from the polluted waters of the Euphrates will threaten the lives of millions of Syrians, especially since cities such as Aleppo, Raqqa, Manbij, Tabqa, Kobani and Deir ez-Zor depend on the Euphrates as a main source of drinking water.

 With the weak capabilities of the Autonomous Administration and its health institutions, and the continued closure of the Tel Kojer / Al Yaroubiya crossing to UN humanitarian aid, it will push the situation in north and east Syria to a difficult stage that cannot be overcome later.

 The decrease in cultivated areas as a result of the lack of water threatens food security. The drought has caused great damage to the agricultural sector in Syria, and the Turkish occupation state's imprisonment of the Euphrates waters further complicates the situation.

 According to the director of Rojava Dam (Tishreen Dam), Hammoud Al-Hamadin, the water intake from the Turkish side is no more than 200 cubic meters per second, while the Rojava Dam lake is witnessing a decrease of up to 5 meters.

 In his last statement to our agency, Thursday, September 22, the Euphrates Dam lake, the largest water lake in Syria, is witnessing a drop of more than 4 and a half meters.

 Noting that stagnant water constitutes an environment for the reproduction of bacteria and viruses and the spread of epidemics resulting from them, he said: "The less the stock, the more pollutants."

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 ANHA