Neighbors deprived Iraq of water for political purposes- MP

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: An Iraqi parliamentarian on Wednesday accused neighboring countries of depriving Iraq of water for “political purposes,” saying it has badly affected the agricultural sector in the country. “Iraq has been suffering from drought for five years, which has affected the levels of water in the country,” a member of the agriculture, water and marshes committee, MP Jamal Abdulmahdi al-Bateekh, told IraqiNews.com news agency. “A former Turkish prime minister said that we give one barrel of water for one barrel of oil, which is a wrong analogy…,” Bateekh noted. “The Turkish president has promised during his last visit to Iraq to increase Iraq’s share of water, but this promised has not been fulfilled thus far,” Bateekh explained. “Two days ago, I met with the minister of water resources, who ruled out an increase in water levels since the arrival of the Turkish president,” he added. “The Turkish side will increase the flow of water into the Euphrates River by 130 cubic meter/second following extensive contacts with Turkey to alleviate the effects of the severe lack of water in the country,” a ministry statement had quoted Minister Abdullateef Jamal Rasheed as saying. SS (S)/SR 1