Damascus, Baghdad invite Ankara to meet on water issue

Syrian Irrigation Minister Abdul Rahman al-Madani and his Iraqi counterpart, Mahmoud Diab al-Ahmad, called upon the Turkish government to convene a tripartite meeting to discuss a just and final partition of the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers between the three countries.

The call advocated by the two states was made in the framework of a protocol signed by the two ministers to intensify cooperation and communications between Syrian and Iraqi experts. The Syrian minister said, "If Turkey has good intentions, it is possible to reach an agreement, whereas the opposite will lead to problems that Syria does not want to inherit to coming generations."

The Iraqi minister told the Lebanese daily al-Nahar that meetings of the Syrian - Iraqi technical committees had not been stopped. He added that "these committees are to draw a study within 13 months in order to filter the waters of the Tigris and the Euphrates from pollutants caused by Turkish industrial waste," noting this issue was fully debated during his meeting with the Syrian officials.

The waste dumped by the Turkish side in the two rivers threatens agriculture and the supply of potable water in both Syria and Iraq, especially because pollution rates in the two rivers exceeds five fold the rate permitted internationally.

Political sources in Damascus said that Syria's rush to reach a final agreement with Turkey concerning the waters of Tigris and the Euphrates is based on expanding the security agreement signed with Ankara in October to end the tension provoked by the question of the Kurdistani Workers Party.

The sources stressed Damascus' interest in determining its share in the waters of Tigris and the Euphrates so as to be able to draw its water plan in light of what has been reported on "studies under preparations to use the waters of the Euphrates which irrigates the north and eastern parts of the country to Damascus in the south."

On Saturday, Syrian Prime Minister Mahmoud al-Zou'bi met with the Iraqi minister, and discussions dealt with "cooperation relations between the two countries in the field of waters and its uses."

The Iraqi minister also met with Syrian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Nasser Qaddour.