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The Drought Crescent: Water Politics In The Middle East
September 5th, 2009
Via Conde Nest’s Traveler, an interesting report on Jordan which sits at the center of nations competing for scarce water resources amid a controversial plan to tap the Red Sea. As the article notes, these lands were part of what was once called the Fertile Crescent, where three great rivers—the Nile, the Tigris, and the […]
Read more »River Wars? Increasing Tension Between Iraq, Turkey, and Syria
August 29th, 2009
Via The Guardian, an ominous update on the ever increasing tension & crisis between Iraq, Turkey, and Syria over water levels in the Euphrates. As the article notes: “…A water shortage described as the most critical since the earliest days of Iraq’s civilisation is threatening to leave up to 2 million people in the south […]
Read more »Urgent Talks Over The Euphrates
July 22nd, 2009
Via Terra Daily, a report that Iraq’s water resources ministry is seeking urgent talks with neighbouring Turkey and Syria after the flow of water in the Euphrates river fell by more than half in less than a month. As the article notes: “…The ministry is aiming for “an urgent meeting with ministers and experts from […]
Read more »Parched Earth: A Dwindling Euphrates Hinders Iraq
July 14th, 2009
Courtesy of The New York Times, an in-depth look at how water issues affect the relationship between Iraq, Turkey, and Syria. As the article notes: “…The Euphrates is drying up. Strangled by the water policies of Iraq’s neighbors, Turkey and Syria; a two-year drought; and years of misuse by Iraq and its farmers, the river […]
Read more »Rising Tide Of Tension Between Turkey & Iraq
May 20th, 2009
Via Seed Daily, a report on increasing water tensions between Turkey and Iraq. As the article notes: “…Iraq faces an agricultural “disaster” this summer if Turkey continues to retain waters from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers which have sustained Iraqi agriculture for millennia, experts say.The controversy over the sharing of the mighty rivers at the […]
Read more »Turkey, Syria, and Iraq: Great Anxiety Downstream
March 18th, 2009
Via Energy Daily, a detailed look at issues related to Turkey, Syria and Iraq’s mutual sharing of the Tigris and Euphrates’ 303,000-square-mile river basin watershed. As the article notes: “…For Damascus and Baghdad, the bad news is that the Euphrates’ flow is 88 percent controlled by Turkey, 9 percent by Syria and only 3 percent […]
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