Pak Sahafat – Following the drought and the 60% reduction in Iraq’s water reserves, Baghdad has asked Turkey to increase the amount of water released into the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
According to Pak Sahafat News Agency’s report, in a report on the water tension between Turkey and Iraq, the Independent Arab website wrote that “Mehdi Rashid Al-Hamdani”, the Iraqi Minister of Water Resources, asked Turkey on July 16 to increase the amount of water released from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
According to the statement issued by the Ministry of Water Resources of Iraq, Al-Hamdani’s words were raised in a virtual meeting with “Visel Eroglu”, the special representative of the Turkish President for Iraqi affairs, in the framework of the discussion about the status of water entering the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq.
According to Baghdad officials, Iraq is one of the five countries that suffer the greatest impact from climate change and desertification.
In this meeting, Al-Hamdani asked Turkey to revise the water release plan in a way that would solve Iraq’s need to overcome the current water shortage situation.
According to this statement, the two sides have also agreed that an Iraqi expert delegation will be sent to the site to observe the truth of the water reservoirs in the Turkish dams.
On the other hand, the Turkish official pledged that the Turkish Water and Dams Company will be instructed to increase the release of water according to the available reserves.
The Middle East News site, by republishing the Independent Arabic report, quoted this report that Iraq and Turkey have differences in water management and both are facing the challenge of drought.
According to this report, the water issue often causes tension between Ankara and Baghdad.
“Ali Reza Gonai”, the ambassador of Turkey in Iraq, announced in a tweet some time ago that drought is not the only problem of Iraq, but it is the problem of Turkey and the whole region, and as a result of global warming, we will see more droughts in the coming years.
Read more:
Turkey’s emphasis on continuing military operations on Iraqi soil
He added that water in Iraq is wasted to a great extent and urgent measures should be taken to reduce this and irrigation systems should be modernized.
The Ministry of Water Resources of Iraq condemned the words of the Turkish ambassador and demanded to summon the Turkish ambassador in protest.
The ministry said in a statement that Turkey is always looking for an excuse to reduce Iraq’s water share by citing the issue of water wastage, and this is what is happening now.
The statement added: “Turkey is not the guardian of Iraq (it does not have a guardianship over Iraq) and it must give Iraq’s share fairly and equitably based on international agreements without interfering in Iraq’s water policy.”
Tigris and Euphrates rivers are part of international rivers because they include more than one country, Tigris comes from Turkey to Iraq and Euphrates from Turkey to Syria and then to Iraq.
Iraq has witnessed a wave of drought in the last three seasons due to lack of rainfall.
According to Hatem Hamid Hossein, director general of the National Center for Water Resources Management, the amount of water storage in Iraq has decreased by 60% compared to last year.
He also said that Iraq’s income from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers has reached 35% of the annual average in the last hundred years.
Not long ago, the Water Affairs Committee of the Iraqi Parliament warned about Turkey’s intention to build the Al Jazeera Dam through the words of Thaer Makhif Al-Jubouri, the head of this committee.
Al-Jubouri stated: The new dam under construction by Turkey is one of the most dangerous dams and if it is built, not a single drop of water will enter Iraq from Turkey.
Iraqis consider the construction of the Al-Jizarah Dam along the Aliso Electric Dam and 35 km from the Iraqi border to be the destroyer of their country.