3. Related Cases: Ataturk Dam

1. The Issue
In the beginning of 1990, Turkey began to fill the reservoir behindthe giant Ataturk dam in the southeastern part of the country. Thedam sits on the Euphrates river that also supplies Syria and Iraqwith a large part of its water supply. There has been disputebetween Turkey and its neighbors regarding water supply and suchdisputes can be expected to become more common as water becomes amore valuable asset in the Middle East. When Iraq objected to theTurkish dams, the Turkish government stated that water was anatural resource. Turkey doesn't tell Iraq what do to with its oiland Iraq should not tell Turkey what to do with its water.(1)2. DescriptionFormer Turkish President Turgut Ozal decided to build a series of22 dams on the Tigris and Euphrates river systems. The Ataturkdam, the world's fifth largest, is part of the SoutheasternAnatolia Project, or GAP. GAP is designed to bring electricity tothe area and to provide irrigation to almost 30,000 square miles ofarid and semi-arid land. The area is larger than the area of theBenelux countries combined and will supposedly allow Turkey to growmuch of the food for the Middle East. The venture is projected toirrigate 1.7 million hectares (4.2 million acres) of land that willproduce an estimated $6 billion food surplus.(2) The irrigationwould enable Turkish farmers to raise cotton, sugarbeets, tobacco,soy beans and other cash crops instead of the grain they now raise.The controversy is not only just over what rights a country hasover water and the politics of water, but archaeologists are alsoprotesting the fact that these dams are destroying many unexploredancient cities. Because of the controversy over water rights, the World Bankrefused to fund the building of the dams. Turkey built Ataturk damanyway. Anticipating its neighbors complaints, the Turks increasedwater flow 50% from the Euphrates river for six weeks beforecutting the flow to a trickle in order to fill the reservoir. Besides the environmental problems that go along with an irrigationproject of this magnitude, Turkey has a history of strongearthquakes that could potentially destroy Ataturk dam. The Turksclaim the dam was designed to withstand quakes of up to eight onthe Richter scale. Iraq has actually threatened a regional war if its water needs arenot met. Turkey claims that its water policy is not political, buthas been very critical of Kurds in Iraq that have been conductingcross-border raids into Turkey. Turkey has also conducted talkswith Israel, as well as other neighbors, about a possible jointwater project that would use a pipeline to carry water. Thesetalks stalled mostly because Turkey wanted the oil producingcountries to devise a similar pipeline to bring oil to Turkey.

Author: Nathan Martz (June, 1994)B. LEGAL Filters 5. Discourse and Status: DISagree and INPROGress6. Forum and Scope: Treaty and REGION7. Decision Breadth: 3 (Turkey, Syria and Iraq) 8. Legal Standing: Treaty Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighborliness (1964) Between Iraq and Turkey9. Geography Geographic Domain: Middle East [MIDEAST] Geographic Site: Northern Middle East [NMID] Geographic Impact: TURKEY10. Sub-National Factors: YES11. Type of Habitat: DRY IV. Trade Filters12. Type of Measure: Regulatory Ban [REGBAN]13. Direct vs. Indirect Impacts: INDirect14. Relation of Trade Measure to Resource Impacta. Directly related to product: No b. Indirectly related to product: Yes AGRICultural c. Not related to product: No d. Related to process: Yes WATER 15. Trade Product Identification: WATER16. Economic Data17. Impact of Trade Restriction: HIGH18. Industry Sector: UTILity19. Exporters and Importers: TURKEY and MANY Turkey's expected water surplus could potentially supply othercountries with electricity, food and water. Since Turkey is notself-sufficient in oil, there may be some sort of agreement in thefuture that trades oil for water.V. ENVIRONMENT Filters20. Environmental Problem Type: WATER21. Species22. Resource Impact: HIGH23. Urgency of Problem: HIGH As the population of the area increases and available waterresources are depleted, the problem of water will become verysevere. Cholera outbreaks in this 1980s during years when waterwas scarce give us an indication of how quickly disease can spreadwithout adequate potable water supplies. Food also becomes aproblem as nations have to depend on others to feed their ownpeople.24. Substitutes: Conservation [CONSV] 25. Culture: YES Since most nations in the Middle East do not trust oneanother, they try not to be dependent on others. This isespecially true in the area of agriculture. Although many fooditems may be cheaper to import, most of the countries prefer togrow their own food. This uses a very large portion of somenations available water supplies. For example, Jordan uses 73percent of its water for agriculture.(3) These water-poorcountries need to set aside enough water for domestic purposes andthen use whatever is left over for agriculture, according to someexperts. This certainly makes economic sense, but fear anddistrust have more to do with policy in the Middle East thaneconomic sense.VI. OTHER Factors26. Human Rights: NO27. Trans-Boundary Issues: YES This is a trans-border issue. What one country does withwater upstream has a significant impact on downstream countries. There are now legal reasons why a country has to allow water toflow downstream, but not to do so could lead war. Pollution, fromagricultural runoff and sewage, also has an impact on areasdownstream. There is growing population in the region. Syria'spopulation is growing at an annual rate of 3.8% a year and this canbe expected to make the water issue even more critical in thefuture.28. Relevant LiteratureAllen, Tony. "Middle East: MEED Special Report on Water Policy- Management Must Supply and Demand." Reuter Textline Middle East Economic Digest, January 24, 1994.Armagan, Haldun. "A few too many Flags on Tigris and Euphrates; Turkish Hydroelectric Plans Worry Iraq, Syria." WorldPaper, October 1992, 13.BBC Monitoring Service, Middle East " Iraqi Official Says Turkey's Water Policy Could Ignite Water War in Region." BBC Monitoring Service, August 23, 1993.Beschorner, Natasha. "Middle East: Water - The Problem of Regional Rivalry." Reuter Textline Middle East Economic Digest, January 29, 1993.Demisar, Metin. "Syria Urges Water-Sharing Pact over Euphrates." Reuters World Service, February 5, 1994.Maddox, Bronwen. "The World's Tap Dries Up." The Financial Times, March 17, 1993, 14.Middle East Intelligence Report. "Official Criticizes Turkish Water Policy, Dam Project." International Intelligence Report, Inc., August 21, 1993. Vesilind, Pritt J. "The Middle East's Water: Critical Resource." National Geographic, May 1993, 38-70.Ward, Diana Raines. "In Anatolia, a Massive Dam Project Drowns Traces of an Ancient Past." Smithsonian V. 21 (August 1990): 28-40.References(1) H. Armagan. "A few too many Flags on Tigris and Euphrates;Turkish Hydroelectric Plans Worry Iraq, Syria." WorldPaper, Oct.'92, 13.(2) M. Demirsar. "Syria Urges Water-Sharing Pact over Euphrates." Reuters World Service. Feb. 5, '94.(3) P.J. Vesilind. " "The Middle East's Water: CriticalResource." National Geographic, May 1993, 59.