Turkey delays dam plans, granting Iraq brief reprieve - Al-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Mustafa Saadoun

Mustafa Saadoun

Jun 12, 2018

An Iraqi inspects the falling water level of the Tigris River in central Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 7, 2008. — ALI AL-SAADI/AFP/Getty Images

A picture taken on March 20, 2018 shows a view of the dried-up shore of an irrigation canal near the village of Sayyed Dakhil, to the east of Nasariyah city some 300 kilometres (180 miles) south of Baghdad. - Farmers in Sayyed Dakhil have traditionally lived off their land where there used to be no need for wells, but a creeping drought is now threatening agriculture and livelihoods in the area.
Weather patterns are largely to blame for the crisis, but while rain accounts for 30 percent of Iraq's water reso

Turkey, Iraq trade blame as concern rises over low water

Fehim Tastekin

In Paris, reporting on Turkish politics

Iraqi Marsh Arab women paddle their boats at the Chebayesh marsh in Nassiriya, 300 km (185 miles) southeast of Baghdad, February 15, 2013. The Marsh Arabs who had farmed this area for thousands of years, were badly affected by a campaign mounted by the government of Saddam Hussein in the 1990s to destroy their lifestyle. The marshes were drained of water, and hundreds of thousands of Marsh Arabs were forced to flee to cities, where they live in poverty, the locals in this area said. Picture taken February 1

Can Iraq reach dam agreement with Turkey to protect marshes?

Adnan Abu Zeed

Iraq fears bevy of levees will mean parched years ahead

Omar Sattar

Canoes are seen in the shallow waters of the Chibayish marshes near the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriyah on June 25, 2015. Marsh areas in southern Iraq have been affected since the Islamic State group started closing the gates of a dam on the Euphrates River in the central city of Ramadi, which is under the jihadist group's control. AFP PHOTO / HAIDAR HAMDANI (Photo credit should read HAIDAR HAMDANI/AFP/Getty Images)

Tribal disputes flare in southern Iraq over water scarcity

Mustafa Saadoun

Mustafa Saadoun