Water Drop in Euphrates River Increases Tensions Between Syrian Kurds, Turkey 

A dramatic drop in water levels on the Euphrates River in recent weeks is adding to tensions between Turkey and Syrian Kurdish forces. 

Kurdish officials in northeast Syria accuse Turkey of reducing the levels of water flowing downstream, causing an agricultural crisis and a major power shortage in the region.    “Areas under our control benefit greatly from the Euphrates water supply, so this is a blockade approach by the Turkish government to undermine our authority and harm our region,” Badran Chia Kurd, the executive deputy president of the Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria (AANES), told local radio station Arta FM on Tuesday.    The AANES is a governing body affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led military alliance that has been a key U.S. ally in the fight against terrorism in Syria.