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Turkey to supply electricity to opposition-held areas in Syria

Authorities affiliated with the opposition in the cities of Tell Abyad and Ras al-Ain in northern Syria recently signed an agreement to import Turkish electricity, as the Syrian regime forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces continue to control the feeding stations of these areas.

Syrian rebel fighters play a game by candle light, due to electricity cuts on May 26, 2013 in Adana, near the northeastern city of Deir Ezzor. Syria's opposition denounced as "too little, too late" an EU decision to lift an arms embargo on rebels fighting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.  AFP PHOTO / RICARDO GARCIA VILANOVA        (Photo credit should read Ricardo Garcia Vilanova/AFP via Getty Images)
Syrian rebel fighters play a game by candle light, due to electricity cuts in Adana, near the northeastern city of Deir ez-Zor, May 26, 2013. — Ricardo Garcia Vilanova/AFP via Getty Images

The towns and villages of northeastern Syria that have been under the control of the armed opposition factions since the end of Operation Peace Spring on Nov. 23, 2019 — which these factions, backed by Turkey, waged against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — are constantly suffering from frequent power outages as the power stations feeding them are concentrated in SDF-controlled or regime-controlled cities.

In an attempt on the part of the Syrian opposition to solve the power crisis, the local council in the city of Tell Abyad, north of Raqqa, and the local council in the city of Ras al-Ain, north of Hasakah, signed an agreement Feb. 25 with the Turkish AK Energy company to deliver electricity to the area.

AK Energy already supplies electricity to Azaz, Jarablus, Jindires and al-Bab in the northern and eastern countrysides of Aleppo.

Under the agreement, which was the result of several meetings between the concerned parties, residential homes in the area will be supplied with electricity at a price of 67.5 Turkish piasters ($0.09) per kilowatt at the earliest possible opportunity.

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