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March 26th, 2009
Via Terra Daily, a report that Turkey has promised to double the amount of water allocated to Iraq from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. As the article notes:
“…The announcement followed two days of talks during Gul’s visit to Baghdad, the first in 33 years by a Turkish head of state, on what is a key issue for drought-hit Iraq.
“President Gul promised to double the amount of water for Iraq this year,” Hashemi told AFP.
“He explained that the drought last year had affected the amount of water for Iraq and Syria, but this year sufficient water would see supply being doubled.”
The Tigris and the Euphrates have their source in Turkey, with the latter also flowing through Syria before reaching Iraq, which desperately needs more water for agriculture and domestic consumption.
The construction by Turkey of a series of dams on the rivers, as part of a massive project to irrigate its southern Anatolia region, has considerably reduced the flow of water to Iraq.
Iraqi newspapers gave wide coverage to Gul’s two-day trip which wrapped up on Tuesday, and said it was important to discuss water issues.
“Turkey must deal seriously with the water issue and be fair with Iraq because our country is the most affected by the sharing out of water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers,” the As-Sabah newspaper said.”