Diyala drought renews calls against Turkiye water cuts

Shafaq News – Diyala

Severe drought in Diyala, northeastern Iraq, has intensified demands for Baghdad to take stronger action against Turkiye over reduced river flows that are devastating the province’s agriculture and forcing emergency water deliveries.

The province depends on the Sirwan (Diyala) River, which originates in Iran and passes through dam systems in both Iran and Turkiye before entering Iraq. Upstream regulation under Turkiye’s vast Southeastern Anatolia Project, combined with Iranian diversions, has sharply diminished inflows to Diyala.

Raad Maghamis al-Tamimi, head of the provincial Agriculture Committee, called on Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to lodge a formal complaint with Ankara and urged the United Nations to secure Iraq’s fair share of water.

Farmers across the province say they are facing crippling losses as harvests wither, orchards die, and costs mount for trucked or pumped water supplies.

Al-Tamimi demanded overdue compensation for farmers covering the 2024–2025 seasons, stressing that growers in other provinces have already received their payments.

Read more: Silent skies over Iraq’s Diyala as climate change drives migratory birds away