ISBD View
Muhammad Munzir Jalal
Turkey's Water Policy in Digla-Euphrates Basin and it Repurcussions on Iraq From 1990-2009
This research highlights water management and its importance in maintaining harmonious international relationship, especially when water-related conflicts can become issues of contention between neighboring countries such as Iraq and Turkey, who share the same water source. This research is significant in that it endeavors to shed light on, and call attention to, Turkey's water policy, where the implementation of that government's water irrigation system has imparted negative consequences upon Turkey's neighboring countries. As such, the main objective of this research is to highlight Turkey's water conservation policy and its negative consequences on other countries from the aspects of regional security and political stability. The research also shed light on Israel's water policy and Israel's collaboration with Turkey in this regard, in which Arab water sources are exploited in favor of long-term political objectives. The ultimate goal of this research is to suggest an alternative water policy that can be adopted by the Iraqi government so that further negative impacts can be minimized. The qualitative structured analyzes its depth, while the comparative qualitative methodology was employed to identify past and present water issues. Historical perspective was provide to determine the legal ramifications of the water crisis based on international law. Future political relations between the countries involved are also predicted. The findings of this research highlight how the water crisis between Turkey and Iraq has been a long-standing one, and how this has materially influenced bilateral relations in a negative manner. This is confirmed through weak diplomatic cooperation between the two countries on the issue of the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The diplomatic conflict has been further exacerbated by Turkey's unilateral water policy, which ignores Iraq and Syria's water interests in the region. This research confirms the importance of Turkey's water policy in furthering its geopolitical aspirations in maintaining a dominant position in the region in spite of the water asset being an international one. This research suggests that a new strategic cooperative framework between regional neighbors can be used to solve a well-rooted water crisis.