Iraq welcomes Turkey’s decision to up Iraq’s water quota

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The Iraqi government on Sunday welcomed Turkey’s decision to increase Iraq’s water quota, according to the official spokesman for the Iraqi government on Sunday. “The Iraqi government expresses gratitude for the efforts of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for responding to Iraq’s request about water in a way that would enhance cooperation and strategic ties binding the two neighboring countries,” Dabbagh was quoted in a statement received by IraqiNews.com news agency. Earlier on Sunday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu revealed that his government would respond to Iraq’s demands to have water flowing into its territories through the Euphrates river from 60 cubic meters/second during the past months to 500 cubic meters/second. “A strategic cooperation agreement covering several fields will besigned between the two countries in the near future,” Davutoglu was quoted in statements during a press conference he had held on Saturday with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari on the sidelines of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) foreign ministers meeting in the Syrian capital Damascus. 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. Zebari arrived in Damascus on Friday (May 22), leading an Iraqi delegation to the OIC meetings.   AmR (S)/SR 1