Turkey Again Targets Water and Electricity Infrastructure in Kurdish Regions of Syria

Local sources and Syrian state media reported on Monday, January 15, that Turkey's airstrikes targeted water, electricity, and oil infrastructure, causing several power plants to go offline in Kurdish areas of northeastern Syria. Hoger Najjar, a media official from the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, stated in an interview with Reuters that at least 40 sites, including power plants, water pumping stations, and oil infrastructure, have been targeted in the past two days. According to Najjar, Turkey's attacks on civilian infrastructure in Kurdish regions of Syria have left at least 10 cities without water and electricity. Syrian state television reported on Monday about a drone attack on the power station in the city of Darbasiyah and also airstrikes on the electricity transfer station in the city of Qamishli by Turkey. The state news agency SANA also announced that two water stations were rendered inoperative due to Turkey's attacks on Monday, which had cut off their electricity. Meanwhile, the Turkish Ministry of Defense announced on Saturday that in a series of airstrikes against what it called PKK positions in Iraqi Kurdistan and Kurdish regions of Syria, 29 Kurdish militants were 'neutralized.' These attacks occurred a day after several Turkish soldiers were killed in clashes with PKK forces. The Syrian Democratic Forces, which control most of northeastern Syria, issued a statement rejecting Ankara's claims and accused the Turkish government of deliberately attacking civilian infrastructure, disrupting essential services such as water and electricity for hundreds of thousands of residents in the region. Over the past years, Turkey has repeatedly targeted Kurdish-controlled areas in northern and northeastern Syria under the pretext of fighting the PKK. Ankara claims that the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main U.S. ally in the fight against ISIS in Syria, are the Syrian branch of the PKK and that its cross-border operations against Kurdish areas in Syria are part of its 'war on terror.' The Syrian Democratic Forces and officials from the administrations of Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden have repeatedly rejected Turkey's accusations and emphasized the primary goal of the fight against ISIS. Turkey, the United States, and the European Union have designated the PKK as a terrorist organization. The PKK has been at war with the Turkish government since the 1980s. Ankara believes that Iraqi Kurdistan has become a safe haven for PKK militants and that the group's leaders are based there. Turkey claims to have targeted 70 PKK-related bases in Syria and Iraq.