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WATER POLITICS

Per a recent article in Turkey’s Today’s Zaman, a new dispute has surfaced between Europeans and Turkish officials over water rights.  As the article notes:

“…Sources from the Turkish environment and foreign ministries said that some members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) indicated at the assembly’s meeting last month that “water rights” should be included on the agenda of the 5th World Water Forum, to be held on March 16-22, 2009, in Ä°stanbul and at which 20,000 people from 150 countries are expected to gather.

However, Turkey opposes the idea on the grounds that the country itself lacks sufficient water resources, contrary to a widespread belief that it has abundant water since it has many rivers and is surrounded by water. Turkish officials say the problem directly relates to water issues between Turkey, Syria and Iraq. The Foreign Ministry argues that Turkey does not have abundant water resources free to be allocated to meet the increasing water needs of other Middle Eastern countries. Although Turkey has at present more water resources than some of its neighbors, it is a country which will have a water shortage in the near future, Turkish authorities stress.

Indeed, Turkey, Syria and Iraq recently decided to bury their differences over water issues and cooperate by establishing a “water institute” that will consist of experts from each country to work toward a solution of water-related problems among the three.

This institute will conduct its studies at the facilities of Turkey’s Atatürk Dam, the biggest in the country, and plans to develop projects for the fair and effective use of trans-border water resources. This rapprochement among the three countries has led to the acceleration of the construction of the Ilısu dam on the River Tigris and the Asi dam on the River Asi, which originates in Lebanon.

Turkey hinted at changing its water policy during the World Water Congress in Antalya in March 2007. It adopted a fair-share model for surface water that leaves its borders and suggested that the problems it had with Syria, Iraq, Iran, Bulgaria, Georgia and Greece over water management should be solved through bilateral talks. Turkey had made clear at the time that it did not want third parties to get involved in the settlement of the water issues.

Turkey is not alone in its unwillingness to declare access to water a fundamental human right. Then-French President Jacques Chirac opened the 3rd World Water Forum, held in Kyoto in March 2003, by asking that “access to water be recognized as a fundamental right.” However, more than 100 ministers and high-ranking civil servants attending the forum could not agree on including a reference in the UN General Comment No. 15 (2002) to explicitly acknowledge the “human right to water” as “indispensable for leading a life in human dignity” and “a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights.” It also said that governments “have to adopt effective measures to realize, without discrimination, the right to water…”

At Kyoto, Britain proposed that ministers first discuss the issue at the domestic level. Ultimately, the final text failed to make any reference to a right to water.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than a billion people lack reliable access to safe drinking water and 2.6 billion people lack adequate sanitation services. Concerns over problems related to access to water have led European countries to take some steps.

In September 2003 the European Parliament declared, “Access to drinking water is a basic human right.” The European Council on Environmental Law passed a resolution in January 2004 stating that “access to drinking water and sanitation is a fundamental right of the individual. The implementation of this right shall be ensured by law.”

Despite this progress, international agreement on the principle has remained elusive.

Based on the information from the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD), the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Forestry indicates that there are 4,277 large dams in 25 EU countries.

With 1,197 dams, Spain tops the list. France has 569, Britain has 517 and Germany has 315 dams currently in operation. While Austria obtains 70 percent of its energy needs from hydroelectricity, Sweden gets 50 percent, Portugal 40 percent and Norway obtains all of its energy needs from hydroelectric plants.

EU countries share water through riparian water rights. For example, Hungary gets 95 percent of its water from EU countries. The Turkish Ministry of Environment and Forestry says Europe does not have a shortage of water so there is no debate over water sharing but rather only over floods and water quality.

Turkish authorities note that the recommendations of the European Commission on Turkey’s progress towards accession indicated in 2004 that “… it would probably necessitate a development of EU policies for the management of water resources and the related infrastructure. Because of their sometimes considerable trans-boundary effects, good implementation by Turkey of other EU policies in the fields of environment, transport, energy and consumer protection would also have considerable positive effects for EU citizens elsewhere.”

Sources from the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Forestry said they do not want to rely on a system which works for the European countries but not for Turkey and its eastern neighbors.

Meanwhile, the construction of the planned dam on the Asi River is expected to start soon. Turkey will also lend Iraq support in constructing dams, particularly the Mosul dam. The tripartite cooperation will not be restricted to water issues as the three countries will also work together in the areas of environment, forestry and meteorology. Because winter precipitation in its eastern region was higher than expected, Turkey will be able to release more water to Iraq and Syria this year, experts say. Cooperation between Turkey, Syria and Iraq will be presented as case study at the 5th World Water Forum…”