Life at 50°C: Syria, when conflict and climate change collide – BBC World Service Documentaries
BBC World Service 
The BBC World Service has found that repeated air strikes by Turkey on northern Syria have cut off access to mains electricity and water for more than a million people, creating a humanitarian crisis which may have violated international law.
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#BBCEye Investigations collated details of more than a hundred attacks between 2019 and 2024 on oil fields, gas facilities, and power stations in the Kurdish-held region, an area already reeling from years of conflict and climate-driven drought. Namak Khoshnaw reports.
The autonomous northeast region of Syria, known as Rojava, is where Kurdish forces, backed by the US, played a decisive role in defeating the Islamic State group. They hoped it would serve as a future state for Kurdish people. But Turkey’s government accuse the authorities in Rojava of harbouring members of the PKK, a Kurdish militant group it describes as a terrorist organisation. In 2019, after fierce fighting, Turkey’s military took control of an area of Rojava along its border, including a major water station, disrupting the supply to drought-stricken communities.
The BBC has gathered evidence which shows a series of strikes by Turkey in October 2023 and January 2024 hit key electrical facilities, further cutting off power to the water station, and denying much of the region access to clean water.
International lawyers who reviewed the BBC’s findings said Turkey may have violated international law. Turkey claims it “solely” targets terrorist facilities. An independent UN report found no military targets near the affected areas. The BBC contacted the Turkish government to comment, it said Turkey has a right of self-defense against the PKK, that they observe international humanitarian law, and that civilian safety is their main priority.
00:00 Introduction
01:53 Life at 50C: Syria
04:17 Hasaka’s geopolitical issue
05:37 The burden on the ‘Water Board’
07:46 Water not safe to consume
09:10 The impact of climate change
09:57 Alouk water under Turkish control
11:29 Surviving a town without water
14:12 Poverty when water is scarce
18:16 Conflict refugees add pressure on the city
22:49 Turkey’s attack on power and water stations
22:58 Living with lack of electricity
25:40 The only source of drinking water drying up
29:10 Pressure on Ahmed to bring water
30:52 NGO’s exploring alternatives
34:44 The health danger of dirty water
37:29 Neighbourhood fight over water
42:01 Turkey accused of violating international law
44:14 Their war, our water
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This film is part of a new season of the #BBCWorldService series Life at 50°C: Water Crisis, which investigates the most severe aspects of climate change and environmental damage in some of the hottest parts of the world where demand for water is already high – South Sudan, Syria, Australia and Colombia. Catch up on the whole series here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLz_B0PFGIn4eKEyYKj5-Sbg4O0A_WJX4g
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Türkiye is feeding 5.5 million Syrians in own country ,talk about that lier BBC
How is the western world allowing Turkey to do this???
Kurdish nationalists with support of western countries dragging regions into complete disaster. Look at Iran, Irak, Turkey and Syria, Kurdish nationalists using terrorism against own country and destabilising those country. Imagine if every ethnic and faith group use terror to have their own country. My recommendation is instead of violence and being proxy of western countries against your own country, integrate and contribute to own country to improve your conditions and eliminate injustice you face. Stop playing victim mentality and identity politics. Do not blame others for your problems, look at your own deeds.
Love and integrate in your country whatever ethnicity or faith you have, and try to improve your country and your condition. Ethnic nationalism or religious extremism doesn’t bring prosperity, peace and stability. I understand you may feel injustice and truely angry and want to improve the situation, but with violence, ethnic nationalism and terror you make hell out of yourself and others. I am saying this because I had had same experience, but then I learned that I was wrong. I learned Hate and violence are not solution, love your country and over time your life individually and collectively will improve. By violence, hatred and ethnic nationalism you will make hell for yourself individually and for your own ethnic and whole country: no one win.
Stop blaming Turkish people. State and people are not same thing. I am a Turkish and i think that is wrong. Everyone has the right to get water. The world will have less water in the coming years because of climate change. So, We may find ourselves in the same situation as these people.
Free Paleystation
Turkey under dictator Erdogan is responsible for making the lives of these beautiful innocent peoples miserable,….free Kurdistan from imperial turkey….
Extreme treatment meted out to Muslims by CHRISTIANS and JEWS around the world. They used every new military equipment chemical biological nuclear, do not know where would their hate end……
There are few trees in this city
lot's of misleading and missing information: the pictures of "Abdullah Öcalan" shown in the city center who is captured and returned by other parties to Turkey because he was internationally condemned terrorist. The so called responsibles you see in video are local governing entity which is also unlawful; not internationally or nationally recognized. The armed actions of these local entity is done by YPG which is connected with terrorist organization PKK these entities are marxist, separatist and nationalists, they have done terror activities in Turkey. So the unlawful separatist, marxist organization assisting terror actions and making it's infrastructure a valid target. Poor decisions creating poor conditions, hope locals will have better environment so they can think and choose wisely soon.
Islam always in this situation
FREE KURDISTAN
Firstly: There's nothing called Roj Ava . This name is what the PKK and YPG has given to Al Hasaka Province in Syria, after they occupied it with the help of the American, although PKK is considered as a terrorist group internationally.
Secondly, the Kurds in this Syrian region are mostly refugees since 1930s who fled the Turkish massacres against them, and they don't have any right to claim this region as part of an imaginary Kurdish state on the border sof Turkey!
People in the documentary mainly speak Arabic, only the officials were speaking Kurdish because they are appointed by the PKK.
BBC Is playing a dirty political game here, claiming it concerns about the ordinary people, but in fact the BBC is trying to twist the facts that this region is occupied by terrorist militias with the support of the US. Those Kurdish militias are helping the US keeping its hands on the Syrian oil fields in the region, depriving the rest of Syrians from benefiting from their own oil.
The Turks are also playing a dirty game of depriving civilians from water, but wait.. Turkey is NATO !!! So, the plan is to use the Kurdish militias in fighting ISIS, then keep them ruling this region of Syria dreaming that it may become part of an imaginary Kurdish state in the future on the expense of dividing Syria , which is against the international law, while at the same time keeping the Kurdish militias under the hammer of Turkish army so they don't expand into Turkey.
The journalist is Kurdish , and the BBC is a dirty liar propaganda
Shame on you
no english captions when the video is speaking in english which the speaking is not fluent in english and makes it difficult to understand.
When Romans left Syria in 637 AD…. it was a very prosperous region. See Now.
Syria is getting huge funds from USA, but this amount is invested to combat Terrorsts. So govt is unable to fulfil basic infrastructure & necessity of civilians.
Terrorism is root of all evils Which engulf civilization and federal structure of country
The use of Atmospheric " Air to Water Systems " is possibly a solution without pipelines and wells ( historical drought/ heat & territorial military invasion by Turkey)
While watching this video, it came to my mind. An Iraqi politician once said, 'Kurds are even worse than Jews. A day will come when you will curse the Turks for every Kurd that wasn’t killed.'
The World Community has let down the poor masses in Gaza and entire Mid-East. Indian rulers are busy in hate mongering against Muslims. The Western Countries in particular have plunged Syria into great human misry.
I am timid enough to watch failure of civilization in current time in Siyra.
It's clearly a propaganda video. If you really want to see people dying of thirst, look at Africa, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Libya. You see that tens of millions of people are actually suffering from hunger and thirst. You will put a very small number of people who are enemies of Turkey in a video with agitation, drama and tears, and then you will make propaganda by waving the flag of the murderers of 50 thousand young people, elderly people, women and children in the streets like a peace ambassador. PKK, YPG and PYD. The BBC must stop being openly hostile. If the BBC is truly sensitive, it should go to Africa and spread people's pain to the world. When you look at the comments under the video, you will see the "free kurdistan" comments. I mean, you don't really expect anyone to believe it's because of dehydration, do you?
It would seem to me that the problem lays with Erdogn and Turkey and that climate change is making a man-made problem worse.
BBC World Service for Zionist Interests Only
This is inhumane. Those poor people struggling with the most basic of human needs….
We have watched your reports in israel sponsored genocide.
We have watched your reports in Iraq invasion by USA on 100% false charges of WMD.
Where are the palestian suporters?where is al jajeera ?where is muslim brotherhood?😂😂such a hypocrits.
Why doesnt US give them access to water instead of GUNS?
Why do Muslims in the don't west protest and boycott turkey for their act of terrorism against syrians and kurds or its ok since a Muslim country killing Muslim civilians
It's a completely propaganda documentary… BBC please surprise me already! As a Turk, people who have set their eyes on the territorial integrity of Syria are never innocent… Turkey will not make any concessions to a terrorist organization that introduces millions of Arab regions as Kurdish regions. If it is land, it is land, if it is water, it is water. In any case, our fight is for the sake of not dividing Syria and not changing its administrative structures… May Allah have mercy on the innocent people living there. However, Turkey will prevent any terrorism attempted for land in any way. What my country has done is a representation of what it has not done yet and we will end the separatist mentality and save the Arabs… Long live the TURKISH ARMY
YPG, I.E. ROJAVA, WITH SO MUCH "USA" SUPPORT AND ECONOMIC POTENTIAL LIKE SELLING OIL TO THE SYRIAN REGIME, CAN'T THEY WORK FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE REGION A LITTLE BIT INSTEAD OF BUYING WEAPONS? TERROR IS CLEARLY CLEAR, AND IT IS A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION THAT RULES THE ARAB REGIONS THAT ARE NOT KURDISH REGIONS IN THIS WAY WITH PRESSURE AND WEAPONS IN MISERY… THANK YOU, YOUR PROPOGANDA DOCUMENT TARGETS US TURKS SO THAT WE CAN JOKE TO END YPG TERROR AND OPPRESSION… SYRIA'S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY IS A FUTURE GUARANTEE FOR TURKEY
EVERYONE SPEAKS FROM THE PEOPLE HERE IS ARAB BUT THE LEADERS ARE KURDISH? DO YOU THINK TERRORISM IS REALLY DEFENDING ITS OWN LAND OR IS IT JUST THERE TO OPPRESS THE PEOPLE OF THE REGION 🙂
These One Million people live in a desert!
What do ya expect! Hot and dry!
Subhanallah… This is so sad. There are people out there suffering from climate change, lack of water, war and its dire consequences.. The modern day problems are so minismal in comparison.
I pray Allah grants relief to the people of Syria. 🤲
37:00 Ya Allah 😢
Why is the world letting the Turks get away with this? 💔
And now israel occupies and controls 1/3rd of the natural water sources in syria
The way that baby cried when he had her bothers me. She didn't like that man and you can tell
It is not a problem when the U.S. imposes economic sanctions on Turkey, but it becomes a problem when Turkey cuts off the YPG's water. Both are the same thing as a gun in water.
💕 😭😘🫶🫂✌️ 💚