The Turkish state and its mercenaries are attacking Northern and Eastern Syria in all kinds of ways. They are using water as a weapon against the people by continuously cutting off the water coming from the Alouk Water Station, leaving thousands of people without water in Hesekê.

In its statement on 22 August, the Hesekê Canton Assembly criticized the silence of international human rights organizations about the violations by the Turkish state and warned of the seriousness of the situation.

Evîn Cuma, a member of the Board of the Cizre Region Human Rights Association, told ANHA that there has been a problem with drinking water from the Alouk Water Station since the Turkish state occupied Serêkaniyê in 2019, and added: “More than a million people see their right to access to drinking water denied. This puts the lives of people in the region at risk."

Evîn Cuma added: “According to the international law to protect civilians from war, this situation is considered a war crime.”

Pointing out that diseases have increased in many places, especially in the refugee camps, due to the water shortage, Evîn Cuma said: “Hol, Serêkaniyê and Washûkanî camps are in these regions. The drinking water shortage poses a danger to both refugees and the general public. Buying water is also a risky situation because this water is not suitable for consumption as drinking water.”

Cuma drew attention to the decrease in the hours of electricity and water supplied from the Euphrates Dam, and added: “The hours of electricity supply are limited. Most of the available electricity is reserved for Alouk Station. But despite this, more than half of the agreed amount is cut.”

According to the agreement between the Turkish state and the government of Damascus, 500 cubic meters of water per second must be delivered to Syria. But for more than a year, this rate has been reduced to 200 cubic meters.

Cuma said: “The Euphrates water problem has been going on between Syria, Iraq and Turkey for years. The agreement is not respected and the water rate is decreasing. More than 7 million people make their living from the Euphrates water. Likewise, agriculture, electricity and water stations also benefit from the Euphrates water. All of this has now been stopped.”

Cuma called the International Committee of the Red Cross, the UN and the guarantor powers in the region, to put pressure on the Turkish state to stop using water as a war weapon against the people.