President of Turkey Erdoğan
President of Turkey ErdoğanReuters

Due to Turkish military airstrikes in northeastern Syria, access to water and electricity was cut off for over a million residents. The significance of this disconnection is critical as the area is known to be drought-stricken.

From 2019 to 2024, Turkey carried out over 100 attacks on oil fields, power stations, and gas facilities in the Kurdish-controlled areas of northern and eastern Syria.

These attacks have worsened the humanitarian crisis in the area, as in the last four years, drought has worsened due to climate change.

Turkey defended itself by claiming the target was to harm "sources of income and capabilities" of "Kurdish terrorist groups." Turkey further claimed they are aware of the drought and what they believe has worsened it is "mismanagement of infrastructure."

The official Turkish military statement said they attacked targets of the Kurdish insurgents, the PKK, the People's Protection Units (YPG), and the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD).