Türkiye sözleşmeye uymuyor: Kobanê’nin köylerinde su kesintisi

 

Turkey not comply convention: Water cut in villages of Kobanê

 

Dicle Demhat 

 

KOBANE - Approximately 100 villages are experiencing water shortages as the water coming from the Euphrates River is cut off by Turkey. On the other hand, in Teilikê, one of the villages where there is also a power outage, women who earn their living from agriculture and livestock farming say "Water is life" and want water to come as soon as possible.

 

1,100 kilometers of the Euphrates River, which is 2,800 kilometers long, passes through Northern and Eastern Syria. The people of the region, 12,000 years ago and today, earn their living from agriculture, livestock farming and fishing. A convention was signed between Turkey and Syria on July 17, 1987, for the Euphrates River, where the people meet their water needs. According to this convention, 500 cubic meters of water should flow every second to Syrian lands. Again, on April 17, 1989, a contract was signed between the Syrian and Iraqi government. According to this convention, 58 percent of the water will remain in Iraqi territory and 42 percent in Syrian territory. Thus, 6,667,000,000 cubic meters of water will flow to Syrian territory in one year, 9,406,000,000 cubic meters to Iraq and 15,700,000,000 cubic meters of water to Turkey. These conventions were registered by international states in 1994 so that they would not be broken.

 

Convention not followed

 

However, while Turkey has not complied with the convention since 2017, there is a decrease in water in the Euphrates River. Due to the decrease in water since June 2020, despite repeated statements by the North and East Syria dam managers, electricity and water administrations and the public, while Turkey does not comply with this convention, the amount of water continues to decrease day by day.

 

Despite the statements and calls, the international states once again kept their silence against the water cut.

 

With the decrease in the water coming from the Euphrates River, the lives of animals are lost and the people of North and East Syria, where agriculture cannot be done at the desired level, also face health problems with the pollution of the water that decreases due to the lack of treatment system. On the other hand, approximately 82 villages and neighborhoods do not receive water, while some villages receive tap water every 10 days. Electricity, which is another problem experienced, is given to the village and city center at certain times, while tap water is left at certain times every two days.

 

The residents of Teilikê village in the west of Kobanê, which is faced with water and electricity problems, told our agency about the situation they were subjected to.

 

‘We were left without electricity and without water’

 

Gewra Ebike says that with the water cut, no water comes from the fountains, and says that even if it is given, the water from the fountain tastes brackish, so they cannot use it for drinking. Emphasizing that water comes in every 10 days and the water they take to use, even if it is brackish, is not enough, Gewra continues: “We are entering the summer month. Planting has started and there is summer cleaning. Life stops without water. We can neither cook nor tea with brackish water. When we buy water with money, it is not enough. To avoid coronavirus disease, there should be plenty of water and the water used should be clean. But we have not seen clean water since the Euphrates River was cut off. We inevitably have difficulties in life. We cannot meet our needs. Our gardens are drying out of thirst. We are deprived of both electricity and water. The sin of so many people is on Erdogan’s neck. A people cannot be left face to face with thirst. It is a sin according to all religious beliefs. It is an unacceptable situation. Like everyone else, we want to live under normal conditions and meet our living needs.”

 

‘Animals are without water’

 

“We have neither electricity nor drinking water, how is this justice?” Rehme Eluş said.  She expresses her reaction with the following words: “With my old age, I can neither wash my clothes nor cook a hot meal due to thirst. There has been no water flowing from our fountains for 10 days. There is electricity for five or six hours a day. What work can we do during these hours? We cannot plant a garden, and our living conditions are getting harder and harder. Since the water in the village is brackish, the animals are also without water. We can neither look after our animals nor in our garden nor do we clean the house. Electricity is required for the well to work, but we cannot use brackish water as there is no electricity. Since the hose was in the tank before the water was cut off, I was not forced. But now I have to draw water in this old self. It did not rain this year either, our gardens were dried up. It is starting to dry in our wells now. We did not know what to do. Now the water of the Euphrates River has to come.”

 

‘Water is life’

 

Another reaction to the water and power cuts came from Emine Mustafa. Saying “Life is very difficult for us,” Emine stated: “Before the Euphrates water was cut off, we used tap water. But when it was cut by Turkey, dozens of villages like us were left without water. These people are engaged in agriculture and cannot obtain the desired efficiency due to water shortage. The Turkish state attacks us under all circumstances. The Turkish state has been hostile to the Kurds for years. Each time it attacked the Kurdish people with different policies. This time, it attacks us by cutting the water of Euphrates River. We are the natives of this land. We gave dozens of martyrs, we shed blood. They are trying to make our living conditions difficult by cutting the water. But we will be thirsty and hungry, but we will not leave our land. It is summer, we still have not been able to drink a glass of cold water due to the lack of electricity. Water is life, life without water cannot be lived.”