ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - An Iraqi official on Wednesday urged that Turkish companies be barred from operating in Iraq, citing Ankara’s failure to fulfill its promises to release agreed-upon water inflows amid a worsening water crisis.
Thaer al-Jabouri, a member of the Iraqi parliament’s agriculture, irrigation, and marshlands committee, told Rudaw that “Turkey has not upheld its commitment to release Iraq’s water shares.
“If Turkey continues this policy, Turkish companies should be barred from working in Iraq,”he urged.
In early July, Turkey pledged to increase water releases into the Tigris and Euphrates rivers by 420 cubic meters per second following a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani.
Erdogan was then-quoted as saying, “Turkey shares what God has bestowed upon it with its brothers in Iraq and will not withhold it from them.” Following this commitment, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani ordered “monitoring of water flows entering northern Iraq across the borders” from Turkey.
Mashhadani on Sunday met with Turkish Ambassador to Baghdad Anil Bora Inan, where they addressed the water issue and “the necessity of continuing to pump Iraq's share of water, in addition to the agreed-upon additional releases.”
The meeting followed warnings from Iraqi officials - including MP Jabouri and Ahmed Dubardani, a member of the Nineveh Provincial Council’s agriculture and water committee - of drastic drops in water levels.
For his part, Khaled Shamal, spokesperson for the Iraqi water ministry, on Tuesday told the state-run Iraq News Agency (INA) that “the water level increases the Turkish side promised - which were supposed to surpass 400 cubic meters per second - have only occurred once or twice.”
Shamal, who is also director of the General Authority for Irrigation and Reclamation Projects, added that storage at Iraq’s largest dam, Mosul Dam, is below one-third capacity, negatively affecting agriculture and electricity generation.
Importantly, two Turkish government officials on Thursday denied to Rudaw that Ankara has reduced the flow of water into Iraq, emphasizing that Iraqi officials have expressed satisfaction with the current levels during recent meetings with their Turkish counterparts.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the two officials noted that Turkey itself is facing a “severe” drought. Despite this, the water flow from Turkey to Iraq has not been impacted, they underlined.
Iraq relies heavily on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, both originating in Turkey. Yet, large Turkish dam projects, including the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP), have significantly reduced water flow to Iraq, exacerbating drought, desertification, and environmental degradation. Currently, Iraq receives less than 40 percent of its historical water share.
Iraq’s water crisis is driven by a combination of factors, including climate change, declining rainfall, poor resource management, and upstream damming by neighboring countries.
Compounding the crisis is the lack of a comprehensive water-sharing agreement with Turkey and Iran. As a result, Iraq remains exposed to unilateral upstream decisions that directly impact its water security.
Additionally, the World Resources Institute lists Iraq among 25 countries facing “extreme water stress,” meaning it uses over 80 percent of its available water resources, heightening vulnerability to drought.
Public frustration has surged, with widespread protests in southern provinces, especially Basra, over acute water shortages and pollution. Pressure is mounting on officials to secure sustainable, long-term solutions.
Updated on August 15 at 12:08 am with comments from Turkish government.
