In the first part of a new series, Patrick Cockburn reports that as Turkey, Syria and Iran dam its rivers, parts of the country are turning into desert, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. Ancient buildings have emerged from the river bed in Iraq's western Anbar province as the Euphrates River dries up. By now it is getting too late to reverse the disastrous impact on Iraq of this massive loss of water. 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Euphrates in Northeastern Syria Turns into ‘River of Death’ Saturday, 4 July, 2020 - 06:45 Oil waste can be seen in the al-Rad valley. Tens of thousands of barrels of oil have leaked into the channels and streams that pour into the Euphrates. The divide with Damascus grew even wider after the establishment of a Kurdish autonomous administration east of the Euphrates. This pattern started in the 1970s when Turkey and Syria built dams on the Euphrates for hydroelectric power and vast irrigation works. The Syrian authorities are being informed of the dam filling schedule as usual. Abdallah, a middle-aged farmer from Hasakah, told Arab media Turkey is responsible for drying up the Euphrates. Water level drops dramatically in Iraq's Tigris river, Rivers that have supported civilisations for thousands of years are being choked off (Getty/iStock), The Tigris river in Baghdad (Getty/iStock), Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican, A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. The droughts that wrecked Iraq's harvests between 2016 and 2018 were a taste of what may come, he said, warning that within five years, the Tigris and Euphrates could dry up… During the meeting, they discussed cooperation in the area of irrigation, and the possible contribution of Romanian companies in dredging the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and preparing […] It is 1,740 miles (2,800 km) long and is one of the two main constituents of the Tigris-Euphrates river system. - YouTube The leaks have raised fear among the local population on their health and negative impact on the soil and ground water, which is now polluted. “Using satellite imagery from NASA’s Landsat 8, in orbit since February 2013, we can see that the facility struggled with containing oil waste in summer 2013. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. Over the decades, the waters of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers were often a point of contention between Syria, Iraq and Turkey. Water woes: Iraqi date palm farms near the Shatt al-Arab river and the Gulf are facing ruin because new dams in neighbouring countries are drying up the two rivers that used to … It is the latter which choke off the water supply to Iraq. Damascus, which enjoyed alliance with Kurdish forces, now looks at them with great suspicion, especially after their growing relations with the anti-ISIS coalition led by the United States. Such floods are now a thing of the past – the last was in 1988 – and each year the amount of water taken by Iraq’s neighbours has been rising. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st, The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. Click here to subscribe to our free newsletter, Copyright: 1978 - 2020 © H H Saudi Research and Marketing LTD, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement, https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2369851/euphrates-northeastern-syria-turns-%E2%80%98river-death%E2%80%99, Euphrates in Northeastern Syria Turns into ‘River of Death’, Oil waste can be seen in the al-Rad valley. Syria: Solution or Solutions to its Crisis? “On 1 July, Turkey will start filling the Ilisu dam on the Tigris and this will cause another decline in the inflows to our country of about 50 per cent,” Hassan Janabi, minister of water resources, told The Independent. During better days, Ankara used to inform Damascus through diplomatic channels of its plans to fill up its dams in southeastern Turkey. In Mutant Variants, Has the Coronavirus Shown its Best Tricks? (Jer 46:6,10) So, the drying up of the river Euphrates prepares the way for divine punishment to come from the North! “I once rescued a friend from drowning when he was swept away by the force of the current as we were swimming in the Diyala river,” says Qasim Sabti, a painter and gallery owner in Baghdad. As Isis advanced south after capturing Mosul in 2014, Taji was heavily fought over, with checkpoints blocking the roads and making travel dangerous. “Under ideal circumstances, the facility can store up to 2.4 million barrels of oil, according to experts from renowned oil tracking website TankerTrackers.com. As with everything else in Iraq, security or the lack of it plays a central role in the villages around Taji. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month, Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. The country is becoming more arid, and desertification is eating into the limited amount of agricultural land. The latest developments have seen the Kurdish autonomous administration accuse Ankara of deliberately lowering the flow of the Euphrates water. Mr Naja looks relaxed about his own security, but he has moved his wife and five sons and daughters to Irbil in Iraqi Kurdistan, not only for their safety but because he wants his children to go to good schools not available locally. Euphrates River, longest river in southwest Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (the "Land between the Rivers"). And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of … The director of the dams, Mohammed Tarboush, told Asharq Al-Awsat: “The Turks are using the water as a weapon against us.”, “They allow the water to flow when our lakes are full so that we are unable to benefit from the flow to generate power and irrigate lands,” he explained. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? The leaks are ongoing, according to PAX’s Humanitarian Disarmament program leader Wim Zwijnenburg, who is also one of the authors of the report. This amount is set to increase this year because the filling of the Ilisu dam in Turkey is forcing the Iraqi government to restrict the growing of rice and wheat by farmers in order to conserve water used for irrigation. Euphrates river dried up !!! Is there evidence here and now to back this up?3. EPA/KHALED ELFIQI, Iran Exploiting Economic Crisis to Recruit Syrians to its Militias. Mr Naja had been the local leader of al-Sahwah, the paramilitary Sunni movements allied to the US against al-Qaeda a dozen years ago. Iraqi protests have been ineffectual because Saddam Hussein and successor government in Baghdad were preoccupied by wars and crises that appeared more important at the time. The Ahwar are marshlands made up of bodies of water located in southern Iraq and are divided into three main sections: the Hawizeh Marshes, the Hammar Marshes and the Central Marshes, whose water areas change from year to year according to the amount of water coming in from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Want an ad-free experience?Subscribe to Independent Premium. Along with the mighty Euphrates, the enduring presence of the Tigris river helped give Iraq its nickname: "the land of two rivers". Learn more about the Euphrates River in this article. The Minister of Water Resources, Dr.Hassan Janabi, has met with the Romanian Ambassador in Baghdad, Mr. Lacop Prada and the Economic Officer of the Embassy. Can anything be done by Iraq to cope with Iraq’s chronic shortage of water? “They block the flow when we most need it.”. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port, A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador, A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk, The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron, Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus, A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. 99 A Kurdish official speculated that Ankara may have informed Damascus that it was lowering the flow, “which raises questions about whether they are working against us.”. According to the Water Stress Index, out of 37 countries in the worldfacing “extremely high” water distres… The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Damascus and Ankara had signed in 1987 a temporary agreement over sharing the Euphrates water. Buy wall26 - 3 Piece Canvas Wall Art - Euphrates River Drying Up - Modern Home Art Stretched and Framed Ready to Hang - 16"x24"x3 Panels: Home & Kitchen - Amazon.com FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases One such channel, named 43, runs close to Mr Naja’s house and, on the day we visited, was full of muddy water that comes from the Tigris. “I could manage if I got water for seven days out of 14 but not less,” he says. Water problems are hardly unique … this map was created by a user through Iraq to be a of... Ad-Free experience? Subscribe to Independent Premium process of drying up the Euphrates using the issue to rally support Ankara... 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