Arbitrary power cuts by YPG/PKK and Assad regime deteriorate living conditions in Syrians

Turkey urged UN representatives in Syria on Friday to address humanitarian problems in an "impartial, neutral and independent manner."

Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgiç said a joint statement about potable water in Syria "by the Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria, Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis and UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa contains factual mistakes as well as incomplete and misleading information."

"The Allouk Water Station is situated near the town of Ras al-Ayn, a part of an area held by the Syrian opposition, and the only source of power for the station as well as the whole region of Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ain is in the south," he said in a statement.

"The terrorist organization PKK/PYD and the regime deliberately obstruct the electricity to the Station and the region. These power cuts disable the functions of the Station to provide water and aggravate the humanitarian conditions in the region."

He added that there has been no electricity in Tal Abyad and Ras al-Ayn since April 18 and at the Allouk Water Station since June 26, adding, "Moreover, the regime continues to arbitrarily prevent potable and irrigation water supply to Al Bab."

Bilgiç underlined that "co-signatories of the joint statement have a selective approach to the humanitarian issues inside Syria and ignore the severe consequences that hundreds of thousands of civilians living in the opposition-controlled areas have to face due to the deliberate electric and water shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic."