Deir Az Zor, Syria – On the broad, windswept plains through which the Euphrates River snakes, the land remembers every war that has passed across it. The oil-rich soil of al-Omar, the turbines of the Tabqa Dam and the cautious return of families to towns long abandoned tell a story as old as Syria itself: one of power, survival and the struggle to unify a fractured country.Over the weekend, Syrian government forces seized the al-Omar oilfield, the Conoco gas complex – both in Deir Az Zor governorate – and the Tabqa Dam, in Raqqa governorate. The operation was heralded as a military achievement, but its significance reaches far beyond maps and military lines. It touches the very structure of Syria’s political economy, the social contract between state and citizen and the fragile architecture of agreements meant to reconcile formerly hostile actors.And the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which previously controlled the areas as well as all of northeastern Syria, soon realised the situation they faced. By Sunday evening, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced that a deal had been reached with the SDF.“State institutions will enter the three eastern and northeastern governorates – Hasakah, Deir Az Zor and Raqqa,” al-Sharaa said.Heartland scarred by warIn eastern Syria, hydrocarbons have long been both a lifeblood and a driver of economic leverage.Before the beginning of the conflict in 2011, oil and gas accounted for nearly 20 percent of Syria’s gr …
