ALEPPO — Areas under control of the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the northwestern countryside of Aleppo are struggling amid deteriorating basic services, including electricity, thus pushing dozens of angry citizens to protest and demand local councils assume their responsibilities in providing services to al-Bab and Azaz.

Dozens of protesters took to the streets of Azaz Aug. 23, condemning the deteriorating services and tough living conditions amid the long and repeated power cuts across neighborhoods. Protesters chanted against the local council in Azaz and its countryside and called on the council to resign. They also carried banners demanding improved services and living conditions, and they called on the local council to sack the Turkish company AK Energy that operates in the city due to the repeated power cuts in Azaz.

Abdalgader Haj Othman, director of the Azaz media office, told Al-Monitor, “Protesters met with the management of AK Energy at its headquarters in Azaz and called on it to leave, halt its operations in the city and return people’s financial subscriptions, which they collected since the company began operating in the area two years ago.”

He added, “A delegation of prominent figures from Azaz, led by Rashid Zaamout, Radwan Ashawi and Khaled Hajoula, in addition to FSA leaders met with the head of the Azaz local council. They accused the council of ignoring the electricity problem and not imposing on the company agreements and provisions that guarantee a low price and high-quality service.”