Iraq, Turkey to start new round of talks over Water quotas

Shafaq News / The Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources announced on Saturday that a new round of talks with Turkey will take place after Eid al-Fitr.

The Turkish Consul in Nineveh Governorate, Muhammad Koçuk, confirmed the news at a press conference in Mosul where he met with the governor, Najm al-Jubouri.

Koçuk said; A Turkish delegation will visit Nineveh after Eid Al-Fitr to follow up issues of Mosul Dam and water from Nineveh to Basra, stressing that “Turkey will not leave Iraq without water.”

In turn; the strategic expert for water policies, Ramadan Hamza explained to Shafaq News Agency that Iraq needs to conclude an agreement with Turkey to determine Iraq's water quota before Turkey can fully control the Tigris water when it opens all the turbines for the Ilisu dam in 2022.

It is noteworthy that the Turkish ambassador to Baghdad Fatih Yildiz announced that the Memorandum of Understanding between Turkey and Iraq which was signed in 2014 on water quotas for Iraq would soon enter into force.

The Memorandum provides cooperation between the two countries in managing water resources in the Tigris and Euphrates basins and determining water quotas for the two countries.

The two parties also agreed last year to establish a joint research center In Iraq for cooperation and exchange of experiences in the field of water.