Translation - English-Turkish - Iraq Calls for Water Treaty to Avert Crisis

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Category Newspapers - News / Current affairs

Title

Iraq Calls for Water Treaty to Avert Crisis

Text
Submitted by

aquila_trans

Source language: English

DAMASCUS- Iraq on Thursday called for a water treaty with neighbours that share the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, saying a deal was needed to avoid a crisis. The two great rivers converge in Iraq and are its main water resource. Both flow south from Turkey, the Euphrates first winding through Syria while the Tigris passes straight into northern Iraq.

"The problem is growing and we need an agreement. There is speculation that the next regional war will be about water, but more conflict does not achieve anything," Water Resources Minister Abdul Latif Rasheed told Reuters in the Syrian capital.

"Iraq could fall into crisis, especially if we don't have more information from our neighbours and an idea of the state of their projects and if we end up without a fair share of the water," he said.

Rasheed said the looming danger came from Turkey, which has been damming the Euphrates and is expected to add the most land under cultivation, further worsening water quality downstream.

"I hope that the water issue does not fall prey to politics. Our river levels have plummeted and Iraq needs guarantees that projects Turkey is building won't hit us further," Rasheed said after talks with Syrian officials.

Euphrates volumes through Iraq have fallen to 30 billion cubic metres a year, half the flow of a few decades ago before Syria and Turkey increased dam building, Rasheed said.

"The picture on the Tigris is slightly better, although Iran is blocking its tributaries and we need to talk about this with Tehran. We have cooperation from Syria," said Rasheed, a Kurd who was a leading member of the opposition to Saddam Hussein.

Rasheed said talks with Turkey have picked up after the U.S.-led invasion that removed Saddam from power in 2003. But Iraq still lacked information on the scope of Turkish plans upstream and the expansion of cultivated land.

Tension rose recently between Turkey and Iraq over Kurdish separatists operating from Iraqi Kurdistan.

"We're meeting with Turkey over water at all levels, but we need more information and detail. Ideally they should seek our approval for some of their projects," Rasheed said.

Water resources have long been the centre of disputes between Turkey and the downstream countries, especially after the completion of the Ataturk dam in the 1990s.

Turkey said then its neighbours had no right to question what Ankara did with rivers rising within its borders but that it would not use its control of the Tigris and Euphrates as a weapon against Syria and Iraq.

Title

Irak Krizi Ã–nlemek Ä°Ã§in Su AnlaÅŸmasÄ± Ã‡aÄŸrÄ±sÄ±nda Bulundu

Translation

Turkish

Translated by

bambam82

Target language: Turkish

ÅžAM - PerÅŸembe gÃ¼nÃ¼ Irak, Dicle ve FÄ±rat Nehri'ni paylaÅŸtÄ±ÄŸÄ± komÅŸularÄ±na, krizi Ã¶nlemek iÃ§in konunun ele alÄ±nmasÄ±na ihtiyaÃ§ olduÄŸunu sÃ¶ylerek, bir su anlaÅŸmasÄ± yapÄ±lmasÄ± Ã§aÄŸrÄ±sÄ±nda bulundu. Irak'ta birleÅŸen bu iki nehir Irak'Ä±n ana su kaynaklarÄ±. Ä°kisi de TÃ¼rkiye'nin gÃ¼neyinden akan Ä±rmaklardan FÄ±rat Suriye iÃ§inden kÄ±vrÄ±lÄ±rken, Dicle ise doÄŸrudan Irak'Ä±n kuzeyine geÃ§iyor.

Su kaynaklarÄ± bakanÄ± Abdul Latif Rasheed Suriye'nin baÅŸkentinde Reusters'e ÅŸÃ¶yle konuÅŸtu: "Sorun bÃ¼yÃ¼yor ve anlaÅŸmaya ihtiyacÄ±mÄ±z var. Bir sonraki yerel savaÅŸÄ±n su nedeniyle olacaÄŸÄ± ÅŸeklinde bir sÃ¶ylenti var, ama daha fazla Ã§atÄ±ÅŸma bir ÅŸey getirmez."

"Suyun adil olarak daÄŸÄ±tÄ±lmadÄ±ÄŸÄ± bir sonuca gelirsek ve Ã¶zellikle komÅŸularÄ±mÄ±zdan ve onlarÄ±n projelerinin durumu hakkÄ±nda daha fazla bilgi alamazsak,Irak krizle karÅŸÄ±laÅŸabilir." dedi.

Rasheed, belirsiz tehlikenin geldiÄŸi taraf olan TÃ¼rkiye'nin, FÄ±rat nehri'ne barajlar yaptÄ±ÄŸÄ±nÄ± ve arazinin bÃ¼yÃ¼k kÄ±smÄ±nÄ± tarÄ±ma aÃ§masÄ±nÄ±n beklendiÄŸini, bunun da suyun kalitesini dÃ¼ÅŸÃ¼rdÃ¼ÄŸÃ¼nÃ¼ sÃ¶yledi.

Rasheed Suriye'li yetkililerle gÃ¶rÃ¼ÅŸtÃ¼kten sonra, "UmarÄ±m su meselesi politikanÄ±n kurbanÄ± olmaz. IrmaklarÄ±mÄ±zdaki su seviyeleri azaldÄ± ve TÃ¼rkiye'nin yaptÄ±ÄŸÄ± projelerin bize daha fazla zarar vermeyeceÄŸi garantisine Irak'Ä±n ihtiyacÄ± var.

Rasheed, "FÄ±rat nehrinin Irak'taki yÄ±llÄ±k su hacmi, Suriye ve TÃ¼rkiye'nin baraj yapÄ±mÄ±nÄ± artÄ±rmadan birkaÃ§ on yÄ±l Ã¶ncesinin akÄ±ÅŸ miktarÄ±nÄ±n yarÄ±sÄ± olan 30 milyar metrekÃ¼be dÃ¼ÅŸtÃ¼" dedi.

Saddam Huseyin karÅŸÄ±tlarÄ±nÄ±n KÃ¼rt liderlerinden Rasheed, "Ä°ran kollarÄ±nÄ± bloke etse de, Dicle'nin durumu biraz daha iyi ve bunun hakkÄ±nda Tahran'la konuÅŸmamÄ±z gerekiyor. Suriye ile iÅŸbirliÄŸi iÃ§indeyiz" dedi.

Rasheed TÃ¼rkiye ile gÃ¶rÃ¼ÅŸmelerin ABD'nin Saddam'Ä± devirmek iÃ§in 2003'te iÅŸgal etmesinden sonra yapÄ±ldÄ±ÄŸÄ±nÄ± ama Irak'Ä±n hala TÃ¼rkiye'nin Ä±rmaÄŸÄ±n yukarÄ± akÄ±mÄ± ve tarÄ±ma aÃ§Ä±lacak arazilerle ilgili planlarÄ±nÄ±n kapsamÄ± hakkÄ±nda bilgi eksikliÄŸi olduÄŸunu sÃ¶yledi.

TÃ¼rkiye ile Irak arasÄ±ndaki tansiyon, Irak topraklarÄ±ndan yÃ¶nelen ayrÄ±lÄ±kÃ§Ä± KÃ¼rtlere yapÄ±lan operasyonlar nedeniyle son zamanlarda yÃ¼kseldi.

Rasheed, "TÃ¼rkiye ile su ile ilgili her seviyede gÃ¶rÃ¼ÅŸÃ¼yoruz, ama daha fazla bilgiye ve detaya ihtiyacÄ±mÄ±z var. Ä°deal olarak bazÄ± projeleri iÃ§in bizim onayÄ±mÄ±zÄ± istemeleri gerekir." dedi.

Su kaynaklarÄ±, Ã¶zellikle AtatÃ¼rk Baraj'Ä±nÄ±n 1990'larda tamamlanmasÄ±ndan sonra TÃ¼rkiye ile aÅŸaÄŸÄ± akÄ±mdaki Ã¼lkeler arasÄ±ndaki tartÄ±ÅŸmalarÄ±n merkezinde yer alÄ±yor.

TÃ¼rkiye kendi sÄ±nÄ±rlarÄ± iÃ§inde doÄŸan Ä±rmaklara yaptÄ±klarÄ±nÄ± komÅŸularÄ±nÄ±n sorgulama hakkÄ±nÄ±n olmadÄ±ÄŸÄ±nÄ± belirtmekle birlikte Dicle ve FÄ±rat'Ä±n kontrolunÃ¼ Suriye ve Irak'a karÅŸÄ± bir silah olarak kullanmayacaÄŸÄ±nÄ± sÃ¶ylemiÅŸti.

Validated by serba - 23 September 2007 04:31

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