SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Officials from Iraq and Turkey will hold a meeting to discuss the issue of water between the two countries after the holy month of Ramadan, the Iraqi minister of water resources said on Friday.
Minister Mahdi Rashid Hamdani met with the Turkish ambassador in Baghdad on Friday, the ministry of water resources said in a statement.
“We will discuss [the water issue] with the Turkish president’s representative after the holy month of Ramadan,” Hamdani said.
The minister called on Turkey to “start activating the protocol of cooperation in the Tigris River”, according to the statement.
Iraq has been in talks with the neighboring countries to secure its share of water.
In May 2021, spokesman of the Iraqi water resources ministry Ali Radi said levels of water in the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers had dropped by 50% compared to last year.
Iraq’s main sources of water are the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, providing 98% of the country’s surface water.
Both rivers originate in Turkey, while the Euphrates passes through Syria, and some tributaries flow through Iran.
Turkey is holding back water on the Tigris River to fill a reservoir behind its Ilisu dam, a step that has alarmed Iraq and caused shortages particularly in the southern province of Basra.
