Shafaq News – Baghdad

The recent water talks between Iraq and Turkiye ended in failure, an Iraqi environmental watchdog asserted on Sunday, accusing Ankara of withholding agreed water releases and putting Iraq’s water security at risk.

In a statement, the Green Iraq Observatory dismissed the results of last Friday’s bilateral meetings in Turkiye, describing attempts to revive the Iraq–Turkiye Water Cooperation Framework Agreement as “ineffective and detached from reality.”

Friday’s meetings in Ankara were part of continued efforts to resolve Iraq’s intensifying water shortage. According to Iraq’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, both sides agreed to pursue immediate and long-range measures, including the implementation of the framework agreement and the launch of Turkish-led infrastructure and water management projects in Iraq.

Officials from both countries also reaffirmed their commitment to technical coordination through the joint water committee, which will oversee progress on shared initiatives and support sustainable resource planning.

The watchdog accused Turkiye of sidestepping its responsibilities under previous discussions and using control over upstream water flows as a form of political and economic pressure. It also alleged that Ankara is restricting water access while reaping financial gains by exporting agricultural products cultivated with withheld water.

“Water that once sustained Iraq’s food production is now being detained beyond its borders. Neighboring countries are using it to grow crops and raise livestock, then selling those goods back to Iraq to compensate for market shortages caused by dwindling water availability,” the statement said, adding that this poses a critical threat that continues to go unaddressed by both authorities and the wider public, despite ongoing warnings.

The observatory also underscored Turkiye’s long-standing refusal to endorse any binding treaty that would secure Iraq’s water rights or establish a shared framework for managing water scarcity during dry seasons.

Earlier in July, Iraq’s Ministry of Water Resources warned that declining upstream discharges and the impact of climate change had severely depleted national reservoirs, projecting that 2025 could be Iraq’s driest year since 1933.

Read more: Iraq’s southern drought: Policy paralysis and upstream pressures deepen ruralcollapse