The looting of Syrian wheat under the shadow of American support

According to the Arabic website Tasnim News Agency, Haft For years, the autonomous administration under the guidance of the SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) has been looting and smuggling all the wheat products in the “Syrian Island” region outside of Syria. In terms of agriculture, this region is considered an important region for the whole country and is located on the eastern bank of the Euphrates and supplied other food products in addition to wheat.

QSD’s control over this area has caused Damascus to be deprived of access to the strategic product of wheat, which is the cornerstone for providing bread to Syrian citizens. This is while Syria used to produce four million tons of wheat before the war, but now it has lost self-sufficiency in this strategic product. Currently, Syria annually produces one million tons of wheat. and at the same time, to meet the needs of its citizens, it needs to import one million tons of wheat a year. It is exported abroad under the American nobility through the SDF militias, and like Syrian oil that is extracted and smuggled from these areas, this product is also exported illegally. 

Another problem for this region is; Because the autonomous government under the command of QSD has reduced the guaranteed purchase price from 430 dollars to 300 dollars per tonne, and this has become the basis for the protest of Syrian farmers.

In front of the autonomous government, in a statement issued by the autonomous administration, It turned out that Turkey’s economic blockade, repeated attacks and encroachments on economic infrastructure, especially oil sources and wells, have led to huge losses in the economy and the inability to provide a suitable profit margin for farmers.

But although QSD does not name the United States due to political interests, it is no secret that the suffering that Syrian farmers are complaining about, the traces of Washington can be clearly felt in it; Because unilateral sanctions have prevented the development of agricultural machinery and limited the import of fertilizers and medicines.

However, the Syrian government is still trying to prevent destruction with some support wheat farming in the country and the guaranteed purchase price is also applied to farmers who are present in the areas under the control of Kurdish militias. In the same context, “Hassan Qatna”, the Minister of Agriculture of Syria, said: This product will be received from May 26, 2024 at the reception centers of the grain company at a price of 5500 lira for the wheat product based on the standard specifications approved by the Ministry of Internal Commerce.

The Syrian government has predicted that wheat production will exceed one million tons in 2024, and the receipt of wheat by the Syrian Grain Organization started last month through government-affiliated centers in other provinces.

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