Parliamentary Agriculture: Water negotiations with Turkey have reached a dead end

[size=52]Parliamentary Agriculture: Water negotiations with Turkey have reached a dead end[/size]

[size=45]Baghdad/ Firas Adnan[/size]
[size=45]Yesterday, Sunday, the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture said that negotiations with the Turkish side on the water file reached a dead end, expressing regret that the government had concluded trade agreements with it despite repeated violations, calling for international action at the United Nations level to guarantee Iraq's rights in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.[/size]
[size=45]In a statement to Al-Mada, MP Abdul Amir Taiban said that "Iraq has reached a dead end in negotiations and discussions with the Turkish side regarding the water file."[/size]
[size=45]Taiban continued, "Iraqi diplomacy suffers from a clear shortcoming; Because the Ankara government has transgressed all international norms and laws.”[/size]
[size=45]He added, "All countries in the world, between which rivers extend, are governed by agreements subject to United Nations agreements."[/size]
[size=45]Taiban believes, "The world is experiencing a clear water war, and the evidence is what is currently happening between Egypt and Ethiopia over the Renaissance Dam. We are witnessing a great move from the leadership of the two countries, as the issue is related to people's lives."[/size]
[size=45]And he stated, "The Iraqi government has placed the Ministry of Water Resources alone on the front line with Turkey, although the issue is shared with the Foreign Ministry and the relevant ministries, but intervention should be made from the highest levels in the Iraqi state."[/size]
[size=45]Taiban expresses his regret that "the Iraqi government, although Turkey occupies our lands and cuts off water from it, concludes commercial deals with them that bring them financial and economic interest and harm our markets by dumping their products."[/size]
[size=45]He called on the government to take immediate action on all relevant international organizations, especially the United Nations, in order to guarantee Iraq's water share and end Turkish abuses.[/size]
[size=45]Taiban concluded, "Government coordination is necessary to confront this crisis, and that each ministry does not work in isolation from the other, as is happening at the present time."[/size]
[size=45]For his part, the other committee member, MP Jamal Fakher, said in an interview with Al-Mada that "Iraq suffers from a major water problem, especially after the work of the Turkish Ilisu Dam."[/size]
[size=45]Fakher added, "The Turkish side goes beyond international agreements related to international waters that extend between countries."[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out that "the three presidencies should directly intervene in addressing the water crisis and communicate with the Turkish government in order to guarantee Iraq's water rights, and not be satisfied with statements and calls through the media."[/size]
[size=45]Fakher confirmed, "A technical team has been formed in the Ministry of Water Resources to discuss with Turkey about Iraq's shares of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and we hope that positive results will be obtained in the near future."[/size]
[size=45]He explained, "The decline of water and damage to agricultural lands led their owners to sell them and turn them into residential areas and commercial centers."[/size]
[size=45]Fakher continues, "The Iraqi government should use the economic and financial paper in order to put pressure on Turkey, especially since the volume of trade exchange between the two countries amounts to $12 billion annually."[/size]
[size=45]He pointed out that "the Turkish side deals with Iraq as if it were a back garden, sometimes it crosses the borders, and its forces storm our lands for illogical reasons, and at other times the water is cut off from us.[/size]
[size=45]Fakher added, "Iraq is currently consuming its water reserves, in conjunction with weak releases from upstream countries."[/size]
[size=45]And the Minister of Water Resources, Mahdi Rashid Al-Hamdani, had stated in previous newspaper statements, that “Turkey is dealing with the issue of sharing water with downstream countries, and there is a significant change in their policy towards Iraq, and we have seen this real will through the visit of the President of the Republic, the Speaker of Parliament and the Prime Minister, all of them.” Indications and on the ground that we are getting results and they are now announced.”[/size]
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