By Dr Hasan Z. Sarikaya and Ms Safia Al Suhail
On a bright day
in Geneva, June 2014, fifteen distinguished political leaders,
parliamentarians, former ministers, senior government officials and water experts
from Iraq and Turkey met under the auspices of the Blue Peace initiative. The
brainchild of Strategic Foresight Group, a Mumbai based policy think tank, the
Blue Peace promotes transboundary water
as an instrument for peace and cooperation, employing collaborative and
sustainable strategies shared by riparian countries.
Home to almost
30 million people, with an irrigation potential of about 65-75 per cent, the
Tigris River passes through high populated areas in both Turkey and Iraq. Little
is known about the river and even less about its many tributaries. Of available
scientific and academic literature, it is known that there
are severe fluctuations and variations in the flow of the Tigris River. Thus,
there is an urgent need to have systematic real time monitoring of not only the
main river, but of the tributaries as well, to get continuous and reliable data
that can be used by all riparians. This
will help in planning activities related to development of resources and
population, maintaining the balance of the river and environmental concerns, as
well as building trust and open dialogue between riparian countries.
Analysis of the hydro-politics in the Tigris basin tells us that while
there have been a number of meetings over the years, the major riparian
countries, Turkey and Iraq, have been unable to reach a basin wide agreement to
jointly manage the shared river. In the last decade there has been an
improvement of relations between Turkey and Iraq, despite the political uncertainties,
and the high level visits and positive political statements have paved the way
for future dialogue and cooperation. Despite the extreme political tensions in
the region, these two countries have recognized that water and environment are
important aspects of cooperation and have thus mutually agreed on moving
forward in this direction.
Seizing upon the positive tone and space created by the governments of
the two countries, the stakeholders involved in the Blue Peace process
developed, over a series of track two meetings which began in Bern in September
of 2013, a plan of action to promote exchange and calibration of data and
standards pertaining to the quality and the flow rates of Tigris River.
The Governments of Iraq and Turkey have on several
occasions agreed in principle to promote exchange and harmonisation of water
data. The proposed plan, in line with the Blue Peace philosophies would help
the countries to take existing agreements, currently only in principle, ahead
to the next level of an operative plan of action. Now is the time to
turn positive political statements and gestures into concrete action.
Some of the objectives outlined in the plan examine
identifying and assessing available data in the river basin and filling in
necessary gaps in data collection and measurement. The need to identify and
implement common techniques and calibration for data collection and measurement
has also been stressed upon, which will serve to reduce discrepancies in
collection across the river. This will
ensure that there is little room for error and disagreement on the data. It was
agreed that the best available measuring techniques should be used, and
technology, both existing and new, should be shared by the relevant departments
in both the countries.
All of this will
serve to identify problems and gaps, and thus increase the confidence in the
operational calibration of individual stations in both countries. By agreeing
upon techniques, statistical models, reporting techniques, quality parameters
to be measured and standards of data analysis, the two countries will ensure
that the environmental and ecological balance and future health of the Tigris
River is maintained.
The
stakeholders at the meeting also recognized that development of expertise for
the purpose of improving their performance and knowledge is an important pillar
of cooperation between Iraq and Turkey on the Tigris River, and can be achieved
if the two parties work on joint capacity building programmes to implement the
objectives of the project.
The Iraqi and
Turkish delegations were led by Former Ministers, Mr Bakhtiar Amin and Mr Yasar
Yakis respectively, both of whom have been involved in this track two process
for many years. In the last few months many leading experts and other
government’s officials have also participated in the process and provided their
valuable input. In the recent meeting in Geneva, senior parliamentarians such
from Iraq and Turkey have also gotten involved.
In
the time of extreme turmoil, in a region besieged with problems, the consensus
and plan proposed by the fifteen distinguished leaders and experts of Turkey
and Iraq, offers a ray of hope and promise that cooperation is possible. The
progressive thinking demonstrated by the Governments of Iraq and Turkey
encourages a positive atmosphere that will hopefully expand in the future.
Dr
Sarikaya is the former Undersecretary for the Ministry of Environment and
Forestry in Turkey and Ms Suhail is a Member of Parliament in Iraq.
