Ambassador Ala: Cutting off water from Hasaka city represents a war crime
Geneva (ST): Syria’s permanent representative to the UN and international organizations based in Geneva, ambassador Hussam Eddin Ala affirmed that the Turkish occupation forces and their mercenary terrorists’ cutting off water from Hasaka city and its vicinity represents a war crime and a violation of international law that aims to displace Syrian citizens in line of the expansionist and colonialist objectives of the Turkish regime.
In a letter sent to the UN Human Rights Commissioner, ambassador Ala said that more than one million Syrian citizens are suffering from shortage of drinking water as a result of suspending Allouk water station. The Turkish occupation forces have cut off the water supplies from the station, which constitutes the main source of drinking water for more than one million people in Hasaka and neighboring areas, since November 30th.
Ambassador Ala added that the city of Hasaka has been suffering from recurrent cutting of water as it has witnessed 17 cuttings since October 9 2019, since the beginning of the Turkish occupation of Ras al-Ein city where the Allouk water station lies.
The Syrian diplomat added that this measure came in the framework of the systematic Turkish regime’s practices which aim at displacing Syrian citizens from the areas it occupies thus imposing demographic changes that suit its expansionist and colonialist objectives ignoring the basic needs of locals. This represents a flagrant violation of the rulings of the humanitarian international law which stipulates that every citizen has the right to obtain safe drinking water, especially in light of the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ambassador Ala clarified that the Turkish occupation forces impose restrictions on the locals to deprive them of their basic income sources and use water as a tool to achieve political, military and economic objectives.
He went on to say that cutting water off more than one million people is considered a blatant violation of the principles of protecting the basic civil utilities stressing that such behavior is considered a war crime that will be added to the Turkish regime’s criminal record.
Concluding his speech, Ala called on the special rapporteur in charge of the right to safe drinking water to observe the Turkish regime’s aggressive practices against Syrian people, cast light on their catastrophic consequences and to work for halting such criminal practices.
K.Q.