Turkey, Russia strike deal to continue water supply to north-east Syria

Turkish and Russian forces have reportedly agreed on a deal to continue the supply of water and electricity to north-east Syria, following months of delays and interruptions to the supply.

According to reports by Turkish media outlet Anadolu Agency and Russian outlet TASS, the Allouk water station located in Syria’s north-eastern province of Hasakah will resume its service while electricity supplies to territories controlled by Turkish forces will also increase.

This comes after reports last week that Turkey and Russia jointly fixed the water station and resumed the water supply to the province’s capital Qamishli. An energy official of the autonomous Kurdish administration in the area hit back against any reports of the deal, telling the local media organisation North Press Agency (NPA) that the water supply is still running at limited capacity.

The official did acknowledge, though, the Turkish and Kurdish forces had been conducting discussions since July which were mediated by Russia.

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The Allouk water station, which provides water to around 460,000 people in north-east Syria, came under the control of the Turkish military and its proxy forces in 2019 following the military ‘Operation Peace Spring’.

Since then, Kurdish forces have constantly accused Turkey of cutting off the supply of water through the station in order to gain political leverage in the area and to request more electricity from Russia. Those claims particularly increased after Ankara and Moscow were reported to have struck a deal in 2019, in which they agreed to trade the supplies of water and electricity.

Turkey has repeatedly denied the accusations that it cuts the water supplies, replying that the water station runs on electricity from the Tishrin Dam, which is controlled by Kurdish forces who Ankara claims have limited the electricity supply.