Iraq asks Turkey to increase the Tigris and Euphrates rivers water releases
An aerial view of the Tigris river at the city of Mosul in southern Iraq. Photo: AFP
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Iraqi Minister of Water Resources, Mahdi Rashid Al-Hamdani, on Saturday, called on Turkey to increase water releases of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, at a time both countries face the challenge of drought, according to the Iraqi News Agency (INA).
Iraq is one of the five countries in the world most vulnerable to climate change and desertification due to the increasing drought, according to the Iraqi authorities.
Baghdad repeatedly denounced the construction of dams by its neighboring countries that cause a decline in the water quantities reaching Iraq.
Hamdani’s comments came during an online meeting with the Turkish president’s special representative for Iraq, Veysel Eroglu, according to a statement issued by the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources.
The meeting aimed to discuss the status of water quantities flowing from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to Iraq, the statement mentioned.
Hamdani asked the Turkish side to reconsider the water release plan in a way that secures Iraq’s needs of water to face the current water scarcity, according to the statement.
Both sides also agreed to send an Iraqi technical team to check reservoirs on the Turkish dams, the statement added.
The two parties also decided to discuss the operational plans of the Turkish dams to overcome the current water scarcity crisis that Iraq is going through.
The Turkish official pledged, according to the statement, to instruct the concerned authorities to increase water releases during the next few days in accordance with the available water storages.
The water issue often raises tension between Ankara and Baghdad.