Turkiye urges swift implementation of water projects with Iraq

Shafaq News– Baghdad

Turkiye is pressing for the swift execution of water projects discussed with Iraq for more than a year and a half, with a focus on infrastructure development to be advanced through a planned agreement between the Turkish president and the Iraqi prime minister, Turkish Ambassador to Baghdad Anil Bora Inan said on Thursday.

Speaking during a session at the energy conference Iraq Development Platform in Baghdad, Inan noted that approval of the expanded financing mechanism is progressing “slowly,” expressing Turkiye’s expectation to receive final approval and begin implementation with the Iraqi side once it is endorsed.

Transboundary water resources are neither abundant nor easily replaceable, he said, pointing out that “Turkiye is both an upstream and downstream riparian state, not solely an upstream country, a factor that should be taken into account.”

Meanwhile, Iraqi Minister of Water Resources Aoun Diab said during the conference that the so-called strategic agreement is an umbrella cooperation framework rather than a binding treaty, and does not establish fixed water quotas or water-sharing arrangements, stressing that Iraq has not entered into any agreement defining such allocations. He added that the region as a whole—not Iraq alone—is currently suffering damage caused by water shortages.

Earlier, Diab told the Iraqi parliament that the country is facing its worst water crisis this year due to climate change and upstream countries’ use of shared water resources, reiterating that there is no binding agreement with Turkiye on water sharing based on fixed quotas.

Baghdad and Ankara signed the executive document of their water-cooperation framework on November 2, 2025. The agreement grants Turkiye a five-year mandate to manage rapid water releases and related infrastructure and includes a commitment to supply Iraq with about one billion cubic meters of water to help ease severe shortages.

Read more: Oil for Water: Iraq bets on new Turkiye deal to ease drought crisis