hydropolitics of the tigris - euphrates river basin with - ceris.be

Hydropolitical Conflict Resolution: Attempts to Achieve Regional Hydrological Harmony and
Security
Up to the present the three countries along the Tigris-Euphrates complex have classified themselves (and
been viewed outside) as simply upstream users and downstream users. Negotiations during the first half of
the Twentieth Century were more often the result of European influence from outside of the region and were
relatively smooth. 56 One of the first treaties signed from within the region was the Treaty of Friendship and
Good Neighbourliness (signed in 1946). This offered one of the first legal instruments for co-operation for
the present-day entities of the signatories. 57
The fact that Syria exists as a sometime ‘middle-stream’ entity with regards to Iraq only serves to add to the
complexity of an already complicated issue. The most likely disputes can be characterised as; Syria and
Turkey, Syria and Iraq, both Syria and Iraq against Turkey and possibly, in the future as GAP progresses
into the Tigris, between Iraq and Turkey. The water policies of each country (and conflicting claims for
access to water), almost all of them unilateral, can be summed up as:
“…pitting the prerogatives of an upstream country against those of a midstream and a downstream country;
the territorial sovereignty of one country against the historical rights of another; the aspiration of ethnic
minorities against centralised authoritarian states; the need for economic development against the
requirement to protect the environment; short-term sectoral interests against those of the regional community
of nations.” 58
The Joint Technical Committee (JTC) and Regional Tripartite Meetings
The JTC had its origins in the Turkish-Iraqi Treaty of 1946 (first regional agreement) but its first meeting
was in 1965. Discussions focussed on the Euphrates with Turkey’s Keban, Syria’s Tabqua and Iraq’s
Haditha Dam. Disputes arose immediately over consumption figures and irrigation needs. During the early
1980’s much of the discussions centred on the GAP project (again with no resolution) and, after 16 meetings
the JTC held its last session in 1993. Interestingly enough the subject of the meeting was to try to agree upon
the joint management of the Euphrates but a disagreement on terminology and definitions ultimately blocked
any progress. Syria and Iraq presented a model of co-riparians equally sharing an international river while
Turkey maintained the Euphrates was not international but transboundary, and not subject to this form of
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