Writing in the government daily al-Sabah, Iraqi water expert Ja'far al-Zarkoushi said that the completion of the massive water projects (dams, water storage facilities and irrigation canals) in southern Anatolia, known by the Turkish acronym GAP has added an additional problem in the relations between Turkey and Iraq due to the absence of international agreements that would establish the rights of both the upstream country (Turkey) and the downstream country (Iraq). Zarkoushi maintains that the Turkish water projects have been accomplished at the expense and interests of Iraq. Turkey, he said, does not suffer from a clear shortage of water as much as it suffers from the misuse of the water resources and their geographic distribution. The author accuses Iran and Syria as well in addition to Turkey for constructing water projects without taking into consideration Iraq's interests.
Zarkoushi said that the real problem is that Turkey does not recognize the international status of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers that historically have sustained the Iraqi population and its agriculture. Turkey considers the two historic rivers as "cross-border rivers" that it can utilize according to its interests without taking into consideration the interests of either Iraq or Syria.
Source: alsabah.com, September 21, 2011
