Turkey dries up a river in Zakho, hinders the Iraqis from reaching it

Shafaq News/ The water stage at Hezil river, a tributary of the Tigris river that crosses Duhok's city of Zakho, decreased drastically following the construction of a huge dam in the Turkish city of Silopi, a local official said on Sunday.

The head of Duhok's irrigation directorate, Hiza Abdul-Wahed, told Shafaq News Agency, "Turkey hinders the installation of gages to measure the stage in the river. It also prevents our employees from nearing the river."

The Turkish side built an 80-meter dam in the south of Silopi in 2012, she added. Since then, the water stage at the river has dropped 3.5 meters. 

"The orchards on the banks of the river have turned into deserts. The livestock has been transported somewhere else," she continued.

Mohammad Ali, a farmer from a village on the bank of the river, told Shafaq News Agency, "we cannot reach our land on the Iraqi side."

"Turkey prevents us," he added, "Turkish troops have attacked us several times."

"We want a solution," he said.