Oil slicks in the Khabur River in Syria, a major tributary of the Euphrates, have left agriculture “almost impossible” according to one farmer in Hasakah. For the past two months, Riyadh Al-Aswad has been desperately struggling to keep his wheat crop alive long enough for the harvest season. He is not alone in his plight as hundreds of other farmers across the northeast grapple with the pollution. The oil spills, which first appeared in February, were blamed on Türkiye after its military conducted a series of airstrikes on Kurdish-affiliated oil refineries in northeastern Syria. “Since the att…
