The Turkish government has once again restricted the flow of the Euphrates River into Syria. The Turkish state has been using the river as a weapon against the Syrian peoples who have been living under war conditions for years.

The Turkish President and AKP Leader Tayyip Erdoğan says he has a good relationship with the people of Syria on one hand, but at the same time attacks the people with inhumane and immoral ways. Like in Afrin and Bab, he wants to add various other areas to the invaded zones.

The Turkish state has taken it upon itself to aid gang groups in Syria, and doesn’t refrain from meddling in Syria’s domestic affairs or invading its lands. With the imposed embargo, another one of the Turkish state’s inhumane methods is to force the people to migrate. The “water issue” between Syria and the Turkish state goes back a long time, but with the crisis in Syria, it has become more urgent once again. The Turkish government has taken full control of the Euphrates River which is the lifeline for thousands of acres of cropland in Syria and Iraq.

The Turkish state is not complying with the treaty signed with Syria regarding the Euphrates River. The treaty states that Syria is entitled to 500 cubic meters of water per second, but the Turkish state allows only less than half of the agreed upon amount to flow to Syria. The people stress that the water levels are at a record low in the river.

But like with war, it is the civilians and the agricultural population that suffers the most by the water cuts. Naturally, they are the ones to harbor the most anger against the Turkish state.

Hemîd Ebdî (80) from the Karakozak village along the Euphrates River said he hasn’t seen the likes of the Turkish state tyranny anywhere else.

Hemîd voiced his fury like follows: “Fascist Erdoğan and the Turkish state ruined our crops and our property. We have been farmers for decades. We watered our fields with the waters of the Euphrates a hundred years ago. Cutting off this water caused the animals here to die and the fields to dry up.”

Hemîd stressed that Erdoğan is forcing a policy of “starving” the Syrian peoples.

Another farmer, Abduldayîs, who also irrigates his field with the waters of the Euphrates called on all humanitarian organizations and asked them to take action against the violence the Turkish state imposes upon the Syrian peoples.

Cutting off the Euphrates River negatively affects electricity production and works in Northern Syrian dams as well as agriculture. The dams were able to provide 12 hours of electricity per day, but now it has fallen to 8 hours.