ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A delegation from the Turkish Ministry of Water resources is set to visit Iraq soon, the Turkish Consul General to Mosul told Iraqi state media on Saturday after Iraq and Syria signed an agreement on water resources.
“A delegation from the Turkish Ministry of Water Resources will soon visit Iraq to study the water situation from the Mosul Dam to Basra,” Consul General Mehmet Kucuksakalli said, adding that an Iraqi delegation had visited Turkey two weeks ago and conducted studies on the Tigris in Turkey.
Kucuksakalli said that the issue is a matter of “great importance” and that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has formed a team to solve the water problems impacting Iraq.
Late last month, the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources said that an agreement was reached in their delegation’s visit to Turkey.
In regard to low water levels this year, Kucuksakalli said that the reason is due to low rainfall, claiming that “Turkey has never blocked the water” flowing across its border.
The Turkish Consul General’s remarks come after the Iraqi Minister of Water Resources and his Syrian counterpart signed an agreement earlier on Saturday.
“Both sides agreed to activate joint cooperation, exchange experiences, intensify the holding of technical and administrative meetings between the two sides and share the damage resulting from the decrease in water imports,” read a statement from the Iraqi ministry of water resources.
The agreement included that both countries will exchange data on the imports from the Tigris and Euphrates periodically and in emergency situations.
Severe drought this year has dealt great damage to the water resources of all three countries.
The Turkish ambassador to Iraq Ali Riza Guney on Saturday said that rainfall had decreased by almost 40 percent in Turkey.
“Despite water scarcity, we allow more water to both Iraq and Syria than we receive,” the ambassador tweeted, adding “efficient usage of water” is key.”
Iraq is the fifth-most vulnerable nation in the world to the effects of climate change, including water and food insecurity, according to the UN, yet it lags behind its neighbors in creating a plan to better manage its water resources.
This past winter and spring saw much less snow and rainfall than average and neighboring countries have built many dams in recent years, holding onto the water in shared rivers, which has led to major problems for Iraq.
The UN Watercourses Convention governs transboundary water resources, however, only a few dozen states are party to the convention, under which nations are obligated to respect and equitably share their neighbors’ water resources. The treaty has been signed by Syria and Iraq, but not by Turkey or Iran.
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