Russians appear to broker deal with Turkey in electricity for water swap in Syria

The Turkish Defense Ministry announced in a statement on Saturday that they had restored electricity to Tal Abyad countryside, after a meeting with Russian military officials in Ain Issa.

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Russian military seems to have brokered a deal with the Turkish army to swap water for electricity in areas under Turkey’s control in northern Syria.

According to the purported deal, the Tishrin Dam, in areas under the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) control, will supply electricity to Tal Abyad and its countryside, while the Alouk water station, under Turkish control, will supply water to Dirbesiye and Hasakah, which are under SDF control.

The Turkish Defense Ministry announced in a statement on Saturday that they had restored electricity to Tal Abyad countryside, after a meeting with Russian military officials in Ain Issa.

Restoration of the Alouk Water Reservoir – which feeds Ras al-Ain (Serekaniye), Dirbesiye, Hasakah – is complete, the Turkish Defense Ministry statement said, “and necessary measures were taken to ensure its full operational capacity.”

Around 460,000 people in Hasakah city and surrounding areas are dependent on the station for their water supply.

The Alouk water station near Serekaniye was damaged on Oct. 11, when it came under Turkish attack during Turkey’s so-called Peace Spring Operation a few days earlier. There was a lack of clean water in Hasakah for several weeks due to the damaged water station.

While the water problem was solved, the area under Turkish control between Tal Abyad and Serekaniye has been without electricity for several weeks. 

Wael Hamdo, the head of the Tal Abyad local council, told pro-Turkish Smart News Agency that power was restored to most of the neighborhoods in Tal Abyad after malfunctions affected the electricity network. He did not reveal what caused the failures.

However, a former employee at the power station in Tal Abyad told Smart News that the problems were caused after members of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army stole cables and electricity transformers in an attempt to sell them. 

Electricity was restored after members of the local council conducted maintenance on the transformers. 

In its statement, the Turkish Defense Ministry said repairs at the Mabruka electricity transformer began on Nov. 22. The Mabruka electricity station feeds areas south of the M4 highway.

The statement added that electricity was provided from the Tishrin Dam to areas in northeastern Syria, where Turkey launched its military operation.

“In this respect, electricity was provided to the Tal Abyad countryside, and works are ongoing to provide it to Tal Abyad’s center and the [Serekaniye] region.”

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany