Iraqi Parliamentary Committee call on forming Syrian-Iraqi leverage on Turkey
ERBIL, Syria (North Press) – On Saturday, Iraq’s Parliamentary Committee for Agriculture, Water and Marshlands called on the necessity of agreeing with Syria on the amount of water to form an “important leverage on Turkey” in order for the water to flow to them.
“The continuous provision of water requires an Iraqi-Syrian consensus mainly on the two countries’ amount of water from the source country, Turkey,” Salam al-Shammari, head of the Committee, said in a statement.
“After agreeing on the quantity of water, there will be individual and tripartite agreements between Iraq, Syria and Turkey,” al-Shammari added.
“Iraq has large areas that need adequate quantities of water for reclamation and the continuation of its availability for cultivated lands,” he noted.
With summer approaching, Iraq remarkably suffers from the low water level which affects the agricultural sector.
The crisis of water began with the operation of the Turkish Ilisu Dam on the Tigris River in 2018.
The Ministry of Water Resources said that its contacts are continuing with Turkey to discuss the Iraqi’s share of water.
Recently, the water conference was held in Baghdad, during which, the continued negotiations between Turkey and Iran were confirmed to reach understandings regarding this matter.
While observers believe that Turkey is using water as leverage on Iraq and Syria, al-Shammari said “the agreement of the two neighbouring countries on the quantity of water will be an important leverage on Turkey for the flow of water to them according to agreements that are not affected by any crisis.”
However, the Ministry’s spokesperson, Ali Radi, said it is not a matter of leverage as it is an understanding.
“The coordination between Syria and Iraq will undoubtedly affect the source country, Turkey, and thus overcome the obstacles and difficulties in the negotiations with Turkey,” he told North Press.
He stressed the necessity of the continued cooperation between Iraq and Syria to guarantee their shares of the Rivers of Tigris and Euphrates.