Water expert warns of looming humanitarian disaster as Turkey continues to cut off water supply to Hasakah, North and East Syria

HASAKAH, SYRIA — Sheikhmus Darwish, a geological expert specializing in groundwater at the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria’s (AANES) Water Directorate in Hasakah, has issued a grave warning about an imminent humanitarian catastrophe due to the ongoing disruption of the water supply from the Alouk station by Turkey. With scorching summer temperatures, over a million people in the region are enduring a severe water crisis.

In a statement, Darwish emphasized the suffocating water crisis plaguing the city of Hasakah. The city currently requires 80,000 cubic meters of water per day, but only half of this amount is reaching its residents, he said.

The city of Hasakah, home to one million people, is facing this severe water crisis because the Alouk Water Station, the primary source of water for the city and its surrounding towns and villages, is under the control of Turkish forces and their Syrian National Army (SNA) proxies.

Darwish called upon humanitarian organizations, such as UNICEF and the Red Cross, and the Russian mediators to intervene and resolve the water crisis by ensuring the continued operation of Alouk Water station despite the ongoing conflicts. He noted that previous attempts to communicate with Russia and other organizations to address the water supply issue have been unsuccessful.

Darwish raised concerns about the imminent drying up of surface wells that provide potable water to Hasakah and its surrounding areas. He warned of the dire consequences that would follow the depletion of these wells, which would undoubtedly lead to a devastating humanitarian disaster in the region.