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HPA Director Dursun Yıldız ; Turkey should implement proactive hydrodiplomacy, boost trust among riparian states

HPA Director Dursun Yıldız spoke to Daily Sabah on water cooperation in the Euphrates and Tigris River Basin. (July 28-29 2018)

ALTHOUGH water is key to conflict resolution and sharing of benefits in the region, the current conditions still do not promise an immediate solution agreed by all riparians. In that light, it is widely believed that building trust among Turkey, Syria and Iraq is essential to start a plan on transboundary waters in the post-conflict era. Turkey, therefore, should, take a leading role in restoring trust among the regional countries and adopt an open policy to implement a new hydropolitical paradigm, Yıldız explained.

“For the restoration of trust, an environment of cooperation based on mutual benefits is essential,” he added.

Meanwhile, regarding the issue of confidence, EER researcher Lahn said that Turkey’s response to Iraq’s fears of water shortage illustrates the importance of clear and timely communication about what is happening in the upstream and emphasized that the country should continue its stance toward building confidence. Turkey’s policy on transboundary waters should focus on coordinated management of the river and benefit-sharing, she said.

“Turkey, Syria and Iraq could, for example, form a network of experts to improve mutual understanding of changes in the rivers and expected new demands on them. Working jointly on solutions to make efficient irrigation, pollution reduction, reviving riverine ecosystems, agricultural trade and electricity sharing would be ways to build trust and improve river sustainability over time,” Lahn added. Likewise, Turkey may lead the preliminary work on the establishment of an organization for cooperation on water management, Dursun Yıldız said, as part of its proactive hydrodiplomacy particularly in the post-conflict era in Syria. The country can help the re-construction of the collapsed and ruined corporate infrastructures for water management during the war. As an example for effective cooperation,

Yıldız cited the recent short term training of Iraqi irrigation engineers and technicians in Turkey’s State Hydraulic Works (DSİ).

“In order to build confidence, the riparian states should engage in open and transparent communication , exchanging information at the basin level,” Rende, Turkey’s former ambassador to the OECD, emphasized.

He also referred to the importance of political will to start an open dialogue mechanism that could facilitate the implementation of confidencebuilding measures and the agreement on the utilization of the water in transboundary basins for the benefit of all