ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq and the Kurdistan Region face a serious water crisis as the governments of Turkey and Iran have been decreasing or cutting water supplies into the country’s rivers.
The Iraqi Minister of Water Resources, Hassan al-Janabi, said on Saturday that the Turkish government had begun filling the newly-established Ileso Dam on the Tigris River.
According to Janabi, Iraq has an agreement with Turkey regarding the amount of water that is stored in the dam and the quantity to be launched.
He also revealed that an Iraqi delegation would visit Turkey soon to discuss the matter with Turkish officials.
The effects of the Turkish dam filling were noticed on Friday with a significant reduction of water levels in the Tigris River in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, Mosul, and in the marshlands of southern Iraq, raising fears of drought which would affect the country’s livestock and agriculture.
Turkey’s Ambassador to Iraq Fatih Yildiz wrote in a tweet that he was aware of concerns expressed by “the Iraqi people and friends,” and promised to take their worries to Ankara.
He added that Turkey had cooperated and communicated with Iraq in the past and had consulted Baghdad before filling the Ileso Dam.
Riyadh Ezadin, the Director of the Mosul Dam project, said the amount of water coming from Turkey had decreased by 50 percent.
Meanwhile, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources on Saturday said Iran had deliberately cut water flow to the Lower Zab River in the Kurdistan Region town of Qaladze in Sulaimani Province.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany Updated4 hours ago