Soon: Turkish FM to visit Iraq

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will soon visit Iraq to discuss a possible increase of Iraq’s quota of water, an Iraqi government spokesperson said on Saturday. “The Turkish foreign minister will visit us during the third week of the current month,” Ali al-Dabbagh said during a press conference held at Baghdad’s Palace of Conferences, which was attended by IraqiNews.com news agency. Dabbagh expressed his hope that the Turkish government would respond to requests to increase Iraq’s share of water. Turkey has recently agreed to increase Iraq’s water quota to 500 cubic meters per second from 60 cubic meters/second during the past months. The rivers Tigris and Euphrates are considered to be the main resource for water in Iraq. Both are flowing from the Turkish territories north of Iraq. The Tigris enters directly into the Turkish territories but the 2300-km-long Euphrates runs through Turkey and reaches Syria and then Iraq. Local residents who live in the areas where the Euphrates runs are suffering its low level due to a decrease in its flow into Iraq. SS (S) 1