The PKK's Syrian offshoot YPG has deprived the Syrian people of fuel in oil-rich Hassakeh province in eastern Syria.
After controlling 90% of all oil resources in the region, the terrorist group is not allowing common people access to fuel. Hassakeh is among the provinces that are facing an oil crisis. Even though the province has many oil stations, the terrorist organization allows people to buy oil from only three stations. Civilians must wait in long lines, and many have to buy fuel for their vehicles from the black market at three times the cost.
The group's smuggling of fuel to regime-controlled areas is also one of the main causes of the crisis in the region. It conducts oil exchanges with the Bashar Assad regime through Hüsam Katırcı, a militia leader and deputy known for his closeness to the regime.
The YPG, the "partner" of the United States in the region, violates American laws both by selling oil to the regime and by trading with Katırcı, who is on the sanctions list of the U.S. Treasury Department.
There are sanctions against helping the regime develop domestic oil production and for having trade relations with the regime, according to the Caesar Syrian Civil Protection Law. The law was signed by former U.S. President Donald Trump on Dec. 21, 2019, and entered into force on June 17, 2020.
The PKK is a designated terrorist organization in the U.S., Turkey and the European Union, and Washington's support for its Syrian affiliate has been a major strain on bilateral relations with Ankara.
The U.S. primarily partnered with the YPG in northeastern Syria in its fight against the Daesh terrorist group. On the other hand, Turkey strongly opposed the YPG's presence in northern Syria. Ankara has long objected to the U.S.' support for the YPG, a group that poses a threat to Turkey and that terrorizes local people, destroying their homes and forcing them to flee.
Under the pretext of fighting Daesh, the U.S. has provided military training and given truckloads of military support to the YPG, despite its NATO ally's security concerns. Underlining that one cannot support one terrorist group to defeat another, Turkey conducted its own counterterrorism operations, over the course of which it has managed to remove a significant number of terrorists from the region.
Şerif Naser, a local, told AA that only three oil stations are selling fuel in the province, where hundreds of thousands of people live.
Saying that he comes to the station at 5 a.m. and leaves at 3 p.m. every day and he added: "Citizens are unable to fill fuel in their cars. If they removed the quota on fuel, this crisis would be averted."
The terrorist group has put a limit on how much fuel a person can put in their vehicle.
"There is a big crisis right now. We have oil like the sea, but it is being smuggled," he added.
Yaser Ali, another resident, said: "Half of the day is spent waiting in the fuel queue. Why is this crisis happening when there should be plenty of fuel in the summer season?"
Saleh Abu Isa, another local, said that he waits in line for hours every day, stating: "There is fuel at the main source, but there is a problem with distribution. Sometimes we go to other cities to find fuel."
Syria has 14 provinces, some of which are controlled by armed opposition groups.
Parts of Idlib, Raqqa, Hassakeh and the countryside of Aleppo are controlled by anti-regime groups, while the PKK/YPG terrorist group controls Deir el-Zour and most parts of Raqqa and Hassakeh provinces along with parts of Aleppo.
U.N. estimates show that more than 8 million Syrians have either been internally displaced or become refugees in other countries since 2011. The Syrian regime held presidential elections in May in which authorities say Assad won 95.1% of the votes.
Local people living in areas held by the YPG have also long suffered from its atrocities, as the terrorist organization has a notorious record of human rights abuses including kidnappings, recruitment of child soldiers, torture, ethnic cleansing and forced displacement in Syria. The YPG has forced young people from areas under its control to join its forces within its "compulsory conscription."
