Angry Planet - Turkey Is Turning Off Syria's Water During a Pandemic

Episode Date: March 28, 2020

War is about logistics. “An army marches on its stomach,” the idiom goes. Well, a populace can’t survive without water. One water station in Northeast Syria is the heart of a growing conflict between Turkish backed rebels and the local Kurdish population. As war rages in Syria and the COVID-19 pandemic begins, water is more important than ever. Here to help us figure that out is Kimberly Westenhiser. Westenhiser is a journalist, photographer and artist. Her work has appeared at The Seattle Globalist, Foreign Policy, War Is Boring and Playboy. Her story on Turkey and Rojava’s water supply appeared on Popular Front.You can listen to War College on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or follow our RSS directly. Our website is warcollegepodcast.com. You can reach us on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/warcollegepodcast/; and on Twitter: @War_College.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Love this podcast? Support this show through the ACAST supporter feature. It's up to you how much you give, and there's no regular commitment. Just click the link in the show description to support now. They haul their soldiers around in what's like livestock trucks, which is, I mean, kind of paints a pretty morbid image. You're listening to War College, a weekly podcast that brings you the stories from behind the front lines. Here are your hosts. Hello, welcome to War College.

I am your host, Matthew Galt. War is about logistics. An army marches on its stomach, the idiom goes. Well, a populace can't survive without water. One water station in northeast Syria is the heart of a growing conflict between Turkish-backed rebels and the local Kurdish population. As war rages in Syria and the COVID-19 pandemic begins there, water is more important than ever. Here to help us figure out what is going on is, Kimberly Westenheiser.

Westenheiser is a journalist, photographer, and artist. Her work has appeared in the Seattle Globalist, Foreign Policy, Wars, Boring, and Playboy. Her story on Turkey and Rojava's water supply appeared on Popular Front. Kim, thank you so much for joining us. Happy to be here. So I know you are one of the first to report on this, but I'm really glad what we're talking today because I feel like in the last 24, 48 hours, I have seen versions of it popping up everywhere. and my feed.

Yeah. So with the COVID-19 pandemic, it suddenly gained a new relevance because it was kind of highlighted that without this key water source, hygiene standards, we're not going to be up to stuff in order to handle that. All right. Well, let's back way up because I think we need some context for what's going on now. And you were there. Yes.

Okay. So you were in the Middle East. you were in Syria. When exactly were you there? I was in Syria right around Thanksgiving. I think Thanksgiving night was like the day that we arrived. And we were there for a total of four days. So it was pretty much a get in, get out type of deal.

All right. And at that time, what was kind of the nature of the conflict between, and I know it's between terms of. Turkey and Syria. I know it's more complicated than just saying Turkey and Syria are at war. So what are the ins and outs of that? So by the time that we arrived, which was approximately a month after the incursion began, post-U.S. withdrawal, things had quieted down significantly, but it was still pretty tense. Like, in the city where we were staying in Camiselo, there were regime troops. So Syrian army, Syrian Democrats. forces, Russian forces, and U.S. forces all patrolling the same area, which, you know, we know that

these groups are not exactly friendly with each other. But at that point in time, there had been no clear escalation between them. Like, this was before we started seeing those videos of road rage between the U.S. and Russian convoys. So nothing like that had really happened. but the fighting between, you know, the people that are calling them the Free Syrian Army, which is militia groups that are backed by Turkey, Turkey, and the SDF and regime had really kind of chilled out. All right, so it was kind of, I don't want to say a standstill, but just, you know. It hit a lull. Yeah, there were still some strikes that were happening on civilian infrastructure.

which most of this conflict has been carried out by drone strikes. So not a lot of, you know, direct combat is how I would put it. Now, when you say drone strikes, are you talking about like off-the-shelf drones, dropping, you know, improvised explosives or actual, like, you know, predator-reeper type situation? The latter. So these come from Turkey, the Turkish military. And what is Aluk water station? Where is it, why is it important? Why did it kind of grab you when you were there? So a Luke is a water station that's a water purification station and pumping station that is just outside of Sarah Canya, which is within the

proposed buffer zone that Turkey was wanting to sort of lay claim to as soon as U.S. forces withdrew. But the issue with that is that's a water station that services a government that's currently held by SDF forces. And that's also where a lot of refugee and IDP camps are, primarily IDP camps. In fact, I don't think there are any refugee camps in Syria. So the issue with that is you have an enemy that's controlling a water station that services you, essentially. So they have strategic pull over the water resources,

which kind of falls in line with what Turkey has been doing historically by building dams and saying we're going to control the water flow so much in exchange for, you know, power or like a greater foothold in the region. So Turkey can really shut this station down at any time that it pleases, which it's currently shut down now because they were trying to broke a deal with the Russians to get electricity. And when those conditions were not met, obviously they shut the station down, and 460,000 people are currently without clean water. Who are these 400,000-plus people? So northeastern Syria is pretty diverse. So we have Syriacs, we have Arabs, we have Kurds, and there are a lot of IDP camps within that region. and that includes the infamous Al Hall which houses ISIS families.

And then there are new camps that have sprung up since the incursion because many people have been displaced since Turkey has launched their military operation, one of which is called Washakani, which is receiving little to no support from NGOs. So, yeah, a lot of them are ordinary people that are going about, their business, but a lot of IDPs also are in this, this province. And, like, is there no other source of water in the region? This is, the turkey has the button that they can push and just turn it all off.

So there are a couple wells next to, um, to Waino, which is a small town that's actually not far from Washa Connie camp. but it's not substantial enough to support the entire population. So a lot of water has been brought on on trucks, which when we were at Washacani, we did see Red Crescent water trucks bringing water to these large. They have a name for them, but I forget what it is. It's basically a large plastic holding tank for water,

and that's where they're, the IDPs would go and they would get what they needed. So what they do have is, it's pretty limited. They did get another station up and running. It was a much older station in a state of disrepair, but unfortunately the water that it supplied was not only enough, but it also was really dirty. So they had to add chemicals to it in order for it to be,

usable, essentially. I'm not sure if they're currently using that with this recent shutdown, but I would reckon that they felt like the self-administration felt like that was what they needed to do. And do you know a little bit more about kind of the history of Turkey, kind of changing the changing the landscape of Northeast Syria so they have more control over the resources. How long has this project been going on? Because they historically

dislike the Kurds, right? Is this about the Kurds in general? Or is there something bigger going on here? I, you know, getting into the conflict between the Kurds and Turkey can get, I mean, it's really messy, but everything

sort of point. toward this is to facilitate greater control over this population in this neighboring country and also in southern Turkey. So the Gap Project, which is Turkey's plans to build a series of dams along the Tigris and Euphrates

that was I think originally conceived of in the 50s and 60s. So like I was saying previously, in building these dams, they can leverage larger footholds in the region by basically saying, you know, we're going to limit water control unless you do what we want you to do, which is what they did, I think, in the 70s with Syria, where they said, unless you sort of crack down on what they were terming terrorist groups, so liberal political party. and like the PKK, which is the Kurdish Workers Party,

which Turkey considers a terrorist organization, unless you crack down on them, we're going to limit the flow of the tigers into Syria. So, yeah, there's been a very long history of Turkey controlling water resources to get what it wants. And I think that this has kind of been, it's been my understanding that with these sort of, what looks like expansionist policies on part of Erdogan.

This has kind of been something that he's been trying to set up for a long time. Like it all sort of falls in line. Like we have the control with the dams and then we have the coup. And then we have that law that passed that granted the president greater control over the country. And now we have him sending militia fighters from Syria to Libya. We have Operation Peace Spring, which is the military operation in northeastern Syria. Yeah, so we have all of these things that are kind of lining up and pointing in this particular direction of intentions, essentially. I'll ask you to speculate, do you think there will ever just be a ground invasion?

Will he ever just take these territories? I mean, I think given the way that warfare is very, currently being conducted, it really kind of seems like ground invasion is what leaders are aiming to do last. Because we have these

much more covert ways of fighting wars that has been sort of developing, especially in Syria. So like with U.S. forces, for example, there's a lot of special forces that operate at the forefront and conventional forces are working

in the back, which it used to be the other way around up until about the Obama administration. So it's my understanding that that is much more reflective of how things are going to happen from now on, unless, you know, but war is always changing and our conduct is always changing, but I would doubt it. Right. Why spend all that blood and treasure when you can exert control over? the populace from afar and not have to worry about the day-to-day administration of it, right?

Yeah, yeah, exactly. And I think that's also like the reasoning behind using airstrikes and drones because it, it's much less resources than to have a bunch of ground troops go in and essentially occupy an area. All right. So how are the people faring right now? I don't know if you've been in contact with them recently, but, you know, you were there, what are they saying that they need and how are they fighting against this? Or is there any room for them to fight against it at all?

I don't think there really is a lot of room for them to fight against this. I think there is a pretty significant feeling of powerlessness. At least that was kind of what was communicated to us at the time. And I don't reckon that that's changed. the people of Rojava really, when we spoke to them, they confessed a lot of anger and a lot of frustration over the situation about having to leave their homes, about the lack of support that Washacani in particular is receiving,

which we sort of suspect that that's kind of the regime's fault. Like the Syrian regime has in the past prevented NGOs from supplying aid to people who needed it, just because they sort of officially have control over the borders. So I don't think that the level of support that or lack of support that we saw when we were there has really changed at all. I know that the Kurdish Red Crescent is working pretty hard to supply these people with what they need, but that's not enough. You know.

Yeah, I don't, I haven't heard from anybody recently. I have a friend in Camislo who confirmed with me that the water station was still shut down, but I can tell you right now that the self-administration is certainly concerned about a COVID outbreak and what that could mean. Because sanitation is, like, there's no way that they can keep up with that without water. Like the thing that they're telling us here in the U.S. is hand washing, hand washing, hand washing. Well, how are you supposed to do that without running water? And have they had any cases yet? In Rojava, I am not sure at this point.

I'm sure there are cases, but they're unconfirmed, which is kind of like, I mean, I think that's been the crux of this issue globally is that we don't know and are having trouble verifying who has it and who doesn't. Um, they, they did shut down the border. Um, no foreign journalists are allowed into Rojava at this time because of Corona. Uh, yeah. They, they, they definitely don't have the healthcare infrastructure to support a large outbreak of illness. Right. And like you said, because of the way the virus works, there's not really a good way. And because of the nature of the conflict, you just, you probably wouldn't know until it's way too late, right? Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely.

All right. We're going to pause here briefly for a break. You are listening to War College. We'll get right back after this. Welcome back, listeners. You are listening to War College. Where are the Syrian regime and Russia in all of this? So the Syrian regime did level a response to Erdogan coming in and attempting to claim or claiming territory. But so when we were in Taltammer, which was along the front line, we had, we were speaking to people at a Syrian Democratic Forces checkpoint and right next to it was a regime checkpoint. But, I mean, it's, it's really hard to call regime forces like an army or like a unified thing anymore because they, it's, it's pretty much enchamble. like they haul their soldiers around and what's like livestock trucks

which is I mean kind of paints a pretty morbid image but yeah they because they don't recognize Rojava as an autonomous state to them it's still a part of the regime they did come and respond and are fighting Turkey alongside the STF in a weird sort of tenuous

relationship. They don't interact with each other at all. And I think Russia, for the most part, has been kind of waiting for Turkey to kind of fall on its face. It was my understanding that Putin was waiting for him to...

Can I cuss? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, he was waiting for him to step in shit, basically. Putin was waiting for Erdogan to step in shit. And that's kind of happening because I feel like his expansionist policies are beginning to fall on their face. So, yeah, I think that Russia at this point is really just kind of propping up the regime. Otherwise, they would have no military heft whatsoever. Right.

And what's the point here? Again, and this is maybe kind of going on, this is kind of coming maybe away from the original topic. But what's the point for Russia? I think probably to leverage greater control in the region, I mean, what we're seeing in northeastern Syria is probably one of the greatest, most significant geopolitical quagmires that's happening right now. I mean, everybody has their hands in it. So I think that Northeastern Syria has become a representation and sort of its own

Syria has become its own proxy war and it's because it's much easier to sort of try to leverage military control over this region rather than go to war with another superpower because it's much less resources. That's kind of how I feel they're playing. this game.

Right, and that specifically is, it's like a little, it's a microcosm of the greater conflict. It kind of reflects how war in general works right now, right? Yeah, yeah. It's, I mean, it's not like a, it's not a direct thing that happens anymore. It's not like we have, you know, these sort of large,

um, scale invasions and, you know, there's looting and plundering and whatever. It's, um, it's all covert. It's all, A lot of it's based in information. It's, yeah, and it's taking place somewhere else. On the buffer regions in the border areas. Yeah.

And to that point, tell me about this $26 million, like, settlement plan of Erdogans. Yeah, so he wants to build large-scale settlements to bring. bring people into the region, the part of Rojava that he claimed, the part of northern Syria that he claimed. Um, which I think is really part of a larger attempt to change the, the ethnic demographic of northeastern Syria. Um, so like in parts that Turkey is, parts of Syria that, um, Turkey is currently holding. Kurdish is not allowed to be taught in the schools. If you are caught with Kurdish phones or anything to do with the YPJ or YPJ, like if that's found on your phone, pictures or songs or whatever,

that can get you sent to jail. They're taking Kurdish off of the road signs. It's just Arabic and Syriac, I think, in Turkish. I haven't seen pictures of these changed road signs, Personally, this is just what I've heard from people that are there. But, yeah, so I think that Erdogan is really leveraging for a demographic change. And the control over water resources obviously facilitates that because if a population doesn't have water, then what are they going to do? Like, it doesn't matter how stubborn you are or, you know, how much you love the place that you live.

If you don't have water, then you can't live. All right. What happens to the people, the refugees and the people in the IDPs, if those border regions are settled by people from Turkey? They can't go home. It would be difficult for me to see them being able to go back home if they fled originally, which coming back to those areas, the Turkish held areas like Sarah Korn. Kanya, after having fled, I think, has led to some really terrible things happening, jail,

you know, extortion, kidnapping, that kind of thing. Yeah, I don't think that they're going to be able to come back if this settlement is successful. Well, then it certainly sounds like he's just trying to kill them slowly. Yeah, yeah, I would concur with that. because, I mean, in order to really sort of really eradicate something, you need to dismantle all parts of it, all parts of its power structure and the structures that are there. And I think that, you know, if you remove a people from their homeland, then that kind of, it makes it difficult for them to be who they are and have a connection to you know, their language and their culture. So, yeah, it's cultural annihilation.

It's, you know, physical annihilation. I think that's really kind of what he, what his intentions are. And simultaneously gaining more political power in the Middle East and across the world. Let's take a brief tangent if we can. We kind of talked about this a little bit. earlier. What, how is it that Turkey, why is Turkey fighting in Libya with Syrian militiamen? Um, you know, it really kind of, it baffles me. Currently, they're trying to flee and saying that they want to leave, that that's not a conflict that they want to be involved in anymore. I think because they're sustaining heavy bombardment. But, um, it's, it's, yeah, I really, I have no real answer other than, you know, they want to, so these militia fighters are, a lot of them are Islamists.

And I think that maybe that has something to do with it. Like, Islamism is something that he's, Erdogan is trying to spread in a greater capacity. but even that kind of feels like pulling its straws or kind of grasping at thin air. Yeah. I mean, it does have to do with his, you know, he's trying to leverage greater control,

you know, sort of play this game that Russia and the U.S. have been doing where, you know, we're going to come into these conflicts and try to stabilize them and simultaneously get more geopolitical power, kind of leverage more power out of that. but why he's using, quote-unquote, FSA fighters is, I'm not sure. Sounds like Turkey and Erdogan specifically wants to be the superpower in the Middle East. Yeah, yeah, that's exactly what he's going for. I mean, they have the second largest military in NATO.

I think that he wants to use that to his advantage as much as possible. possible. And I mean, this is kind of maybe reaching really far back, but sort of reestablish, you know, the power and the prestige that the Ottoman Empire had. Right. There's that dream of greater Turkey that kind of keeps the fires fueled, right? Both at home, and I would assume in Erdogan's mind. Yeah, yeah. I mean, there are, on the waterfront, there's not a lot of freshwater resources. is in Turkey. And I know that water scare city is a big deal for them. And it's a relatively large country, too, with a large population to support. So that could factor into it. You know, there's also been their economy is not doing well. And it's been kind of up and down. Last I heard it was kind of starting to take another dive. And they were trying to put a stimulus package

in order to keep that from happening. So, I mean, there may be economic concerns as well. Resources, obviously, like, what else is anyone going to fight over? Yeah. All right, Kim, Westenheiser, thank you so much for coming on to the program and walking us through this complicated and depressing topic. Yeah, thank you. That's it for this week.

Thank you for listening to War College. War College is me, Matthew Gull. and Kevin Nodell, Kevin is still stuck in the Middle East, having a little bit of trouble getting home. He's in good spirits, and he should be back soon and is going to record a special dispatch with us to talk about what he saw, what's going on over there, and, of course, how COVID is affecting the fight in various regions. If you love the show, please like and subscribe, leave us a review. on iTunes. It does help other people find the show. I'm on Twitter at MJG, AULT. Kevin is at KJK. Nodell. And the show is at

War underscore College. We will be back next week with more stories from behind the front lines. Stay safe until then. And stay home. Wash your damn hands.