Abstract
The Middle East is one of the most water scarce regions of the world. This is why water issues have - among other factors - influenced the countries’ relationship. Turkey, which is considered a relatively water-abundant country if compared with her southern neighbours, had not considered water as a major foreign policy issue until the 1960s. Following Turkey’s initiation of water development projects on the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers in mid-1970s and during the 1980s, transboundary water issues emerged as a Turkish foreign policy concern, particularly in her relations with Syria.
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Notes
- 1.
According to Bazza and Najib, its total length is 485km, of which 336km are within Syria (2003, 7).
- 2.
Detailed data on water uses from the Orontes river are not available.
- 3.
The FAO Aquastat Database estimates surface water flow to Syria at 510 MCM/year through the Orontes River and the bordering El Kebir river (FAO Aquastat 2008).
- 4.
All figures either related to irrigated area, storage capacity, overall water availability and use, have to be taken with care.
- 5.
Thalweg is the line following the lowest part of a valley, whether under water or not.
- 6.
Until recently, Syria claimed the former Ottoman sub-province of Alexandretta (presently the Turkish province of Hatay) as Syrian territory. Hatay appeared as part of Syria on all official Syrian maps, and consequently the Orontes River was regarded as an internal affair of Syria.
- 7.
Hürriyet Daily News 14 April 2005. http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/h.php?news=turkish-syrian-summit-affirms-historic-changes-in-the-region-2005-04-14. Accessed 15 December 2009.
- 8.
Hürriyet Daily News 2 January 2005. http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/h.php?news=prime-minister-erdogan8217s-return-visit-to syria-2005-01-02. Accessed 15 December 2009.
- 9.
Canatan (2003, Annex 6) lists industrial plants which discharge untreated waste water into the Orontes; the list includes e.g. sugar processing industry, plastic, textile, ceramics, concrete, and steel.
- 10.
Yahia Bakour, for instance, the General Director of the Arab Region Center for Agricultural and Developmental Studies and Consultancy (ARCADSAC) (see Bakour 1992)
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Scheumann, W., Sagsen, I., Tereci, E. (2011). Orontes River Basin: Downstream Challenges and Prospects for Cooperation. In: Kramer, A., Kibaroglu, A., Scheumann, W. (eds) Turkey's Water Policy. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-19636-2_17
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