Turkey to invest its waters among the Middle East states
Regional-Turkey, Economics, 3/7/2000

In a report published on Monday, AFP said that Turkey, which enjoys a vast water wealth, seeks to attain large revenues through exporting this valuable wealth.

AFP added that this matter will be discussed during the start of the visit today by Jordan's King Abdullah II to Turkey. Jordan, however, is considered one of the presumed clients to buy water from the river Manfakat near Antalia city, situated on the Mediterranean.

The agency quoted an official at the Turkish water and electrical department as saying that the Turkish authorities have implemented in the framework of the peace waters project, installations on this river able to export 183 million cubic meters of water every year.

The Turkish official, who refused to be identified, added that this project aims in particular at carrying the seeds of peace onto the "unstable" region.

He agency continued that Turkey hopes to benefit from the waters of Manfakat rivers at a sum of US $300 million, annually.

Ankara believes that it will sell its water to Israel, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Malta and other countries in the Arab Gulf region.

Israel, the main ally of Turkey in the region, showed notable progress in this project. Talks were made between the two countries in 1999, but the Israelis did not take a decision on this matter yet.

Professor of international relations at the Middle East University for Technology Hussein Baqji said that these countries will buy drinking water from Turkey after a while because they are in need of it.

The agency added that Jordan, which is mostly a desert area, faces a drastic shortage of water, saying that Jordanian Minister of Water Kamil Mahadin had announced earlier that his country will discuss with Ankara the possibility of importing 180 million cubic meters in the next two years through Israel and that the water will be transported in containers via the Mediterranean.

The agency concluded its report as saying if the waters of Mankafat river are a source of optimism for the region, the waters of the Tigris and the Euphrates are still, on the other hand, the source of differences between Turkey and each of Iraq and Syria.

Previous Stories:
  Turkish delegation to Syria on Monday   (3/3/2000)
  Turkey and the waters of the Euphrates   (2/28/2000)
  Jordan intends to purchase shares of Turkish water   (1/22/2000)
  Turkey and Middle East water negotiations   (1/15/2000)

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