Category: Water

When the revolution in Rojava began, the groundwater level was very low due mainly to industrial monoculture agriculture organised by the Syrian regime over the last four decades, as well as a decline in rainfall as a result of the global climate crisis.

In 2015, Turkey started to use water as a weapon against Rojava by holding back the water on the rivers which flow from Turkey to Syria through the dams it has been building over the last twenty years.

Then, in October 2019, Turkish state forces invaded some areas of North-East Syria, including the region of Serekaniye, which supplies water to almost half a million people in the region around Hasakah. The Alouk water station in Serekaniye was targeted on the first day of the invasion. Since then it has been fixed and then put out of service again repeatedly.

Since the start of the invasion of Serekaniye, Turkish military forces and their allies have continued to attack water infrastructure, burned newly planted orchards and dammed the rivers providing most of the fresh water and electricity to Syria. Hundreds of thousands of people are currently without safe reliable drinking water, a situation only exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the articles below, you can find more information about issues surrounding water and the struggles for water autonomy in North and East Syria. There are also articles here with information on issues around water in southeastern Turkey, such as Turkish megaproject the Ilisu Dam, whose waters have now submerged the ancient city of Hasankeyf, drowning thousands of years of largely unexcavated human history and displacing an estimated 100,000 people, while giving Turkey unprecedented control over waters of the wider region.

Interview: “They were even firing indiscriminately” – IDP Hassan Hassan after the Turkish-backed SNA’s attack on Shehba

Hassan Hassan is an English teacher and works with the NGO S.O.S. Afrin. He is originally from Afrin and lived almost seven years in Shehba. His family and he were displaced to North and East Syria following the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army’s December 1 offensive to seize Shehba. He talks to RIC about his memories of the SNA’s attack, mass displacement from Shehba, the travel to Tabqa, and his situation having been now twice displaced.`

Explainer: Kurdish neighborhoods besieged in Aleppo

Two Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo, Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh, are currently besieged by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) following the Islamist force’s unexpected advances and capture of Syria’s second-largest city from Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian Arab Army (SAA). These neighborhoods have maintained their autonomy from both the Assad government and the Islamist opposition since the start of the Syrian conflict, becoming a safe haven for those fleeing violence, persecution and violent repression elsewhere in Aleppo and Syria. In this explainer, Rojava Information Center (RIC) provides key information on the neighborhoods, their humanitarian and political significance, the previous violence they have endured, and the grave threat now facing these isolated neighborhoods.

Ecology Board: Turkish attacks have caused great damage to the ecology in North-East Syria

Cizîr Canton Ecology Board stated that the attacks by the occupying Turkish state has caused great damage to the ecology in North-East Syria, calling on the international community to take action against this ecological destruction.

“Mala Jin”: The unique women’s houses transforming Middle Eastern society

The Rojava revolution in North and East Syria has become a world-famous example of women's liberation. Women's houses - called "Mala Jin" - have played a key role in mediation and reconciliation within civil society, as well as providing education and protection for women. This article offers a detailed insight into the works of the Mala Jin.

Hajin, an example in collective work

Citizens and farmers in Hajin are repairing and cleaning canals and irrigation areas belonging to cooperatives working in the field of agriculture in a collective way.

604 drinking water wells stopped operating due to Turkish attacks on North-East Syria

Cizre Canton Union of Municipalities made a statement about the latest wave of attacks by the Turkish state against North-East Syria.

Demsal Cooperative promotes women’s economic empowerment in Hasakah

Kongra Star Economy Committee in Hasakah started Demsal Cooperative promoting women’s economic empowerment for the socioeconomic development and building a free and democratic society.

The Turkish occupation attacks on the regions of northern and eastern Syria are a clear violation of the rule of international environmental law and human rights.

Since 23/10/2024, the regions of Northern and Eastern Syria have witnessed a new wave of escalation in which the Turkish occupying state has targeted the already fragile infrastructure and services due to the siege imposed on the region’s population and the long duration of the ongoing war in the country.

AANES works on operating water station in Deir ez-Zor on solar energy

The Municipalities Board of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) is working on running a water pumping station using alternative energy to tackle the electricity and fuel shortages in a village in Deir ez-Zor Governorate in eastern Syria.