Transition from enmity to 'common fate' rhetoric: Water ıssue in Turkish-Iraqi-Syrian relations

Abstract

Starting from the fact that the water issues are the ones which challengetraditional security understanding, this article tries to analyze the basic reason(s)why Turkey, Syria and Iraq have not come to an agreement over the fairdistribution of Euphrates-Tigris waters so far. The study presupposes thatdespite the rapprochement between Turkey, Iraq and Syria on the basis of‘common fate’ rhetoric and good neighborhood strategy, water still exists as adormant issue due to the security oriented priorities of the three countries. Inaddition, the ambitious plans of each country to divert the waters of theEuphrates-Tigris waters, and the lack of legally binding agreement are amongthe other reasons. The argument of the study is that the current problem ofwater between three countries is more than a resource problem; therefore, theGAP project is one of the concerns of the article. In addition, the article willfocus on the fact that, unlike the 1990s, the three neighboring countries’previous negative rhetoric and attitude in dealing with their problems regardingwater shortage have changed, to a large extent, into a positive one.