Turkish firm brings light back to struggling Syrian city
Turkey plans to help restore utilities and other services to Syrian towns, starting with a new power plant for the city of Azaz, which has been running on generators.
ALEPPO, Syria — A Turkish company will build a power plant to provide electricity to the city of Azaz in northern Aleppo province, and Ankara hopes to eventually help provide electricity and other services to the cities and towns damaged in Turkey's Operation Euphrates Shield military intervention.
The local council has prepared land about 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) east of Azaz for the private Turkish company Akenerji to build and operate a thermal power station. Full details about the project will be announced after the station is built, engineer Mohamed Omar, the technical services director in Azaz's local council, told Al-Monitor. The council signed a contract with Akenerji on March 2.
Akenerji has launched construction work, starting with the plant’s foundation, said Omar, adding that maintenance workshops of the electrical network in Azaz are up and running, replacing inoperative cables and erecting new electricity towers in order to reach all neighborhoods.
Ahmad Qaraan, an engineer and member of the local council's service office, told Al-Monitor that the Turkish government has promised residents it will help provide electricity and more services to other Syrian towns that were affected by Operation Euphrates Shield, including Marea and al-Bab. Those services will include improving drinking water networks and sanitation services, paving roads and extending telephone lines to residences.
