{"id":11003,"date":"2023-04-24T17:06:46","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T16:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/?p=11003"},"modified":"2025-10-21T12:55:34","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T11:55:34","slug":"womens-cooperatives-overcome-water-wars-and-climate-drought-in-rojava","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/womens-cooperatives-overcome-water-wars-and-climate-drought-in-rojava\/","title":{"rendered":"Women\u2019s cooperatives overcome water wars and climate drought in Rojava"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Ever since devastating twin earthquakes hit Turkey and Syria on the night of 5-6 February killing over 50,000 people and displacing millions, the world\u2019s attention has once again returned to the Turkey-Syria border. A catastrophe for all affected, it has been intensified for Kurds in Turkey and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES or NES, also known as Rojava<\/a>) as a result of Turkey and Syria blocking emergency conveys from delivering aid<\/a> to Kurdish communities in northern Syria. This is just the latest manifestation of the ongoing oppression of the Kurds<\/a> \u2013 the world\u2019s largest nation without homeland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there is another crisis hitting Kurdish communities in NES; Turkey has been restricting the flow of water<\/a> into an area already hit hard by climate change. As a result, in a place that relies heavily on agriculture, crops are failing, farmers are falling into debt and people are being forced to leave because of recurring drought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is a ray of hope, particularly from the women of the area. A project called Water for Rojava<\/a>, organised by the UK-based Solidarity Economy Association<\/a>, crowd-funded \u00a3105,000 (US$127,000) in mid-2022 to assist women\u2019s farming cooperatives re-irrigate lands suffering from drought. \u201cWe want to secure a good life for the women who will live in the village. There are 13 women running this project. Now we are digging and looking for water,\u201d writes a spokeswoman<\/a> from the Women\u2019s Economic Committee in Derik<\/a>, north-east Rojava, about a farming co-operative being assisted by the Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With support from Water for Rojava, the Women\u2019s Economic Committee has irrigated 75 hectares on a 450-hectare former state-run farm near Derik (estimated population 40,000) and 50 hectares near al-Hasakah<\/a> (with a metropolitan population of over 600,000). \u201cWith water<\/a> these communities can flourish again,\u201d explains Sami Miran (we are using a pseudonym to protect his identity), who visited NES in October 2022 as part of delegation from Water for Rojava.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDemocracy without the state\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Kurdish-majority areas in northern Syria declared autonomy in 2012, during the second year of the ongoing Syrian war, in what is known as the \u2018Rojava Revolution\u2019<\/a>. Building on principles from the Kurdish liberation struggle, the inhabitants of NES organise through democratic confederalism, \u201ca social, political, and economic model of self-administration of different peoples, pioneered by women and the youth,\u201d Kurdish academic and activist Dilar Dirik explained in ROAR<\/a><\/em> magazine in 2016<\/a>. \u201cIt is democracy<\/a> without the state.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In Rojava \u2013 which has an estimated population of four to five million people \u2013 political decisions are devolved to gender-balanced local councils, instead of power deferred to the nation state.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Women\u2019s liberation and ethnic cohesion are key in Rojava. It officially changed its name from Rojava (meaning \u2018West\u2019 in Kurdish) to the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria in September 2018, to reflect the mosaic of ethnicities and religions that live in the area. Women are central to the revolution; in addition to gender parity on all levels of decision-making, there is a strong commitment to ending violence and oppression against women<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the 2012 revolution, the Syrian government controlled massive state-run farms, part of which is what the co-operative near Derik use. \u201cStanding there, all you see is the land stretching to the horizon,\u201d recalls Miran, who visited the 450-hectare farm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Women\u2019s Economic Committee, one of the regional-wide organising committees in NES, supports women\u2019s co-operatives to rejuvenate these lands. \u201cWomen do everything from digging wells and pumping the water, to building climate resilient infrastructure, such as shade in warehouses or planting climate resilient crops. Then, women transport the crops [including wheat, fruit, vegetables and lentils] to market and sell it. As they work in co-operatives, there is no boss or underling. Profits are shared,\u201d Miran says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Man-made drought and water wars<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDrought is being caused by Turkey, the climate crisis and the local water policies [of the Syrian state before 2012],\u201d explains Ercan Ayboga, co-author of Revolution in Rojava<\/em> and an activist within the Mesopotamian Ecology Movement<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ayboga says that Syria under the Ba\u2019ath Party regime (which has been led by the al-Assad family since 1971) followed a policy of industrial farming that included full-scale deforestation and digging tens of thousands of wells. However, he suggests, it is possible to reverse this situation: \u201cWith vegetation, especially forests, water remains in the nature. It does not run off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miran, who grew up in the area, reflects on what life used to be like in the \u2018breadbasket of the Levant\u2019: \u201cThis rich soil once grew olives, wheat, lentils, peas, cotton, beans and chickpeas \u2013 basically anything you sowed. It fed not only Syria, but Jordan, Turkey and further afield.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Turkey stands accused of weaponising water<\/a> against the Kurds by restricting its flow into NES. The Turkish state denies this, despite evidence such as Turkey\u2019s dam building programme flooding and destroying Kurdish cities in Turkey, for example Hasankeyf in 2020<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cTurkey using water as a weapon is unique. I do not know of another state cutting water in such a systemic way for such long periods,\u201d says Ayboga.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Euphrates, a river of great regional and historical importance, begins in Turkey before flowing through Syria and Iraq, and is an essential life source for both downstream states. In 1987, Turkey committed to ensure that 500 cubic metres of water per second<\/a> would flow into Syria. This is approximately half of what flowed prior to the 1960s, when Turkey started building extensive dams, irrigation and hydro-electric power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ayboga says that between 1987 and 2012 Turkey failed to keep this agreement only once, with the filling of its Atat\u00fcrk Dam in the early 1990s. However, \u201csince 2012, Turkey has only released 200-250 cubic metres per second, especially in the spring and summer, depriving [northern Syria of] water for irrigation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2016, Turkey and Turkish-backed militias have occupied and attacked northern Syria, including occupying the canton of Afrin<\/a>, displacing over 300,000 people. The Turkish-backed groups have since faced allegations<\/a> of ethnic cleansing and war crimes. These attacks are part of a longer history of oppression against the Kurds that go back to the formation of the Turkish state in 1923. Turkey defines the Kurdish liberation struggle inside of Turkey as \u201cterrorism\u201d and it uses the same argument to attack NES .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Health concerns<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In January 2023, Euphrates flow averaged 125 cubic metres per second, according to Hammoud al-Hammadi, an administrator at the Tishrin Dam<\/a> in NES, the second biggest dam in Syria, speaking to the North Press Agency<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result of water deprivation, hydro-electric power generation \u2013 NES\u2019s primary source of electricity \u2013 is grinding to a halt. According to Miran, people in the area now rely on fuel-powered generators, which cause pollution and respiratory illness. \u201cIf the Euphrates flowed [efficiently] that problem would disappear overnight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, water scarcity is causing a number of health dangers. On 10 September 2022, a cholera epidemic was declared in Syria, impacting both NES and other parts of Syria. After over a decade of war, infrastructural damage is a major problem. One of UNICEF\u2019s primary concerns is the Alouk pumping station<\/a>, now in Turkish-occupied territory. They estimate that nearly one million people in NES rely on this source for potable water. During all of 2022, UNICEF reported that for 128 days, this station failed to pump any water at all, while it only partially worked on 54 days. To prevent further cholera epidemics, UNICEF proposes a \u201cUN-led monitoring mechanism [at Alouk] to ensure uninterrupted services, and to provide maintenance support as required, which is currently under discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Water for Rojava delegation visited Al-Hasakah city, a hotspot for the cholera epidemic, and one of the places where women are digging wells. \u201cCholera levels were dropping as they treated water from tankers with chloride,\u201d Miran explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe city needs the Alouk water station, but it often pumps no water. This is the situation since October 2019, when it became controlled by the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army. Instead, locals were drawing water from the Xab\u00fbr River. This was full of sewage from Turkey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ground-up and geopolitical solutions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another way that NES is attempting to resolve the water crisis is by reversing the legacy of Syrian government policies that focused on mono-cash-crops, especially wheat and cotton for export. \u201cThere are discussions across NES also about reducing [water] usage. The Economic Committees are also encouraging [fruit] tree planting for your own needs. Organisers are planting small forests around cities,\u201d Miran says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ayboga thinks Turkey will not change course unless President Recep Erdo\u011fan loses the planned May 2023 elections: \u201cTheir current strategy is to destroy infrastructure and reduce people\u2019s access to water and food so that people get fed up, change allegiances or leave; they think that the fewer people who live [in NES] the better.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Turkey has defended the legitimacy of its massive dam building<\/a>, irrigation and other water projects as ways to bring economic development. Yet the Turkish government also denies a litany of abuses against Kurds and its evermore hardline authoritarian policies. These include killing Kurds in Turkey<\/a>, Syria<\/a> and Iraq<\/a>, the banning of opposition parties, attacks on women\u2019s rights, and a clampdown against critical media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ayboga suggests the US and its European allies can pressure Turkey to stop withholding water: \u201cWe know the US allowed Turkey to attack [border towns] Ser\u00ea Kaniy\u00ea<\/a> and Tell Abyad<\/a> in 2019. Yet in the last months, reports suggest that the US pressured Turkey to halt its latest invasion<\/a> [deeper into northern Syria]. The US and EU want a balance of forces [in the Syrian War]. They do not want Turkey to destroy this project [NES], but they do not want it to become too strong \u2013 politically, militarily or economically \u2013 either.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ever since devastating twin earthquakes hit Turkey and Syria on the night of 5-6 February killing over 50,000 people and displacing millions, the world\u2019s attention has once again returned to the Turkey-Syria border. A catastrophe for all affected, it has been intensified for Kurds in Turkey and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11005,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[232,78,301,85],"tags":[314,383,310,375],"class_list":["post-11003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ecology","category-solidarity","category-water","category-women","tag-aboriya-jin","tag-alouk-water-station","tag-kongra-star","tag-tishreen-dam"],"acf":[],"wps_subtitle":"This report by Steve Rushton was published by Equal Times<\/a> on 22 March, 2023","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11003"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14145,"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11003\/revisions\/14145"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mesopotamia.coop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}