Iraqi delegation to visit Ankara in the next few days

Shafaq News/ Minister of Water Resources Mahdi Rashid Al-Hamdani announced that a technical delegation will visit Ankara in the coming days to discuss with the Turkish government Iraq's share of water releases.

In a statement today, the ministry quoted Al-Hamdani saying that a technical meeting will be held with the Turkish side in Ankara on June 21 to discuss water releases and activate cooperation protocols related to water.

Al-Monitor's report warned previously that while temperatures have risen to 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in several regions of Iraq, the water level in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers has declined recently, which instills a fear of depletion of these two rivers.

There is no water agreement between Iraq and Turkey, but there are protocols that have been signed between the two sides over the past decades related to the shares of water transiting into Iraqi territory.

The first protocol was signed in 1920 between Iraq, Turkey, and Syria, and stipulates conditions for establishing dams or diverting the rivers' courses.

In 1946, Iraq and Turkey included the water issue in the "Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighborliness" signed by the two countries.

In 1978, the two countries signed the Protocol on Economic and Technical Cooperation after Turkey completed the Kiban Dam on the Euphrates River, which harmed the Iraqi water interests. However, Turkey continued to build dams and reduce Iraq's share of water, which has led it to a severe shortage since the 1990s.