The waters of Tigris and the Euphrates
Regional-Turkey, Economics, 4/4/2001

The British weekly " the Middle East" said in its recent issue that Turkey's minimizing of the water flow of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to each of Syria and Lebanon is considered the main reason behind the tension between Turkey and its Arab neighbors.

The magazine added that Turkey is determinant also to proceed forward in selling waters to Israel and that Turkey believes that by controlling water resources it will be a power center in the Middle East, noting that Israeli experts had visited Turkey last June to inspect a water purification factory at Managat river which falls into the Mediterranean and it is the very river from which Turkey ships waters to the separated Turkish part of the Cypriot island.

The magazine added that the Israeli experts started talks in Ankara on buying waters from Turkey, but prices were the obstacle.

The magazine said that the Israelis are convinced that buying between 10 and 25 million cubic meters of the Turkish waters every year will meet 2.5% of their annual needs with the possibility of doubling this figure.

The magazine added that the Syrian and Palestinians accuse Israel of trying to cling to the Syrian Golan heights and the West Bank because of water resources, noting that the escalation of water crisis will place the situation in the Middle East to the main political attention in the region and to control peace because waters is one of the most complicated issues in addition to the questions of Jerusalem and the refugees.

Previous Stories:
  James D. Wolfensohn on the challenges of globalization; the role of the World Bank   (4/3/2001)
  Meetings of water resources ministers of the Nile basin   (3/30/2001)
  Nile Basin states discuss joint water projects   (3/8/2001)

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