On the 27th November 2024 the jihadist militia Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and its allies began an offensive against the Bashar al-Assad regime, which was to end its reign and significantly change power dynamics in the Middle East.

Simultaneously Turkey and its mercenary army, the Syrian National Army (SNA), began an offensive against the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) and its peoples. They began by invading the Shehba canton, forcefully displacing an estimated 150.000 people. Shortly after they besieged the Manbij canton, just west of the Euphrates river. This occupational war, that has been going on for over 45 days as of date, has culminated in intense attacks on the Tishrin dam, posing a great danger to the region and beyond.

The Tishreen Dam, located east of Aleppo on the Euphrates River, is part of the vital civil infrastructure in North and East Syria. The Tishreen Dam provides around one million people with agricultural, water and electricity needs. Turkey has been bombing its vicinity since the 9th December 2024 nearly on a daily basis with drones and occasionally with warplanes. If the Tishreen Dam, which holds 2 billion cubic meters of water, collapses, the dam will spill into the Euphrates River. Even under the precautionary measure of opening all river gates, the level of water will reach 16 billion cubic meters, far exceeding the river beds, meaning it will flood the surrounding areas. The consequences of the flooding would reach as far as Raqqa and possible even Iraq.

As a response to these heinous attacks, the people of North and East Syria began protesting the bombing of the dam in order to protect their livelihoods. Beginning on 8th January 2025, people drove in a convoy to Tishreen dam, planning to hold a vigil at the dam in order to protect it from further attacks. This convoy was days ahead announced and clearly marked as a civilian protest, indicating what the Turkish state consciously commits war crimes.