Shafaq News – Baghdad / Ankara

Iraq will receive one billion cubic meters of water from Turkiye in the coming days under a new bilateral mechanism, a source told Shafaq News on Sunday.

According to the source, the agreement, described as the first of its kind, grants Ankara authority to manage Iraq’s dams and water releases for five years before transferring control back to Baghdad.

Turkiye will oversee dam operations and irrigation infrastructure while forgiving part of Iraq’s debt and raising annual trade to at least $30 billion, the source said, adding that the staged release aims to stabilize Iraq’s supply “without affecting” Turkiye’s 90-billion-cubic-meter reserves.

Earlier today, Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan signed the executive mechanism in Baghdad, which Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani labeled as a “sustainable solution” to the country's deepening drought.

The deal follows months of talks on joint river management and infrastructure development, as Iraq endures its worst drought in more than nine decades, with the Tigris and Euphrates now running at less than half their usual levels due to upstream damming and reduced rainfall.