Introduction

Turkey has just completed the Ataturk Dam and Hydroelectric Plant, the sixth largest in the world. This is the start of a Turkish project called the GAP, the Southeastern Anatolian Project, which includes the construction of 20 more dams by the year 2005. This project will increase Turkey's agricultural production by fifty percent. Iraq and Syria have already formed complaints at the United Nations arguing that they have ancestral rights to the water in the Tigris and Euphrates; Iraq has even gone as far as threatening Turkey with war.

Objective

"Turkey believes that an equitable, rational and optimum utilization of water resources can be achieved through a scientific study which will determine the true water needs of each country" explained a Foreign Ministry spokesman. Since I will be working on this project for two classes, I have the opportunity to really go in depth on this project. The following are my three main objectives.

• Determine if there are any legal precedents for each country's claims to the water rights . And are there any pre-established laws that can fairly put an end to this dispute?
• Considering the fact that Turkey plans to use only 35% of the total water flow in the Tigris and Euphrates, while 88.7% of it originates in Turkey, is this conflict really a water rights issue or a symptom of deeper historical issue on land and oil? And, will the new Islamic Turkish government affect the outcome of this conflict?
• Determine if Turkey is correct in stating that even with the future dams, there will be enough flow in the Euphrates and Tigris to satisfy Iraq's and Syria's needs?

akmansoy@mail.utexas.edu