Summary

The Euphrates-Tigris basin, encompassing regions of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and parts of the Tigris basin within Iran, has experienced heightened diplomatic strain since the 1960s due to unilateral irrigation activities impacting river flows, and compounded by geopolitical discord. Cold War affiliations, with Turkey’s NATO alignment opposing Syria and Iraq’s USSR associations, infused additional complexity into water disputes. And the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) issue and territorial claims further fueled discord among riparians until the mid-2000s. The 1980s and 1990s marked peak conflict, with water being utilized as a strategic leverage. Notably, a 1987 accord between Turkey and Syria addressed water allocation and PKK tensions, illustrating the intertwining of water management with broader geopolitical issues. After years of stalemated cooperation efforts, the late 1990s and early 2000s saw improved diplomatic relations, enabling renewed dialogue and the establishment of frameworks such as the Euphrates-Tigris Initiative for Cooperation (ETIC) to facilitate scientific and policy collaboration on water management. Enhanced cooperation in the new millennium can be attributed to internal policy shifts in Turkey, particularly under the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) “zero problems with neighbors” doctrine, and external influences such as Turkey’s EU accession prospects, which shaped its environmental policy framework. Furthermore, a conciliatory regional political climate facilitated the alignment of strategic objectives among the riparian states. Nevertheless, the absence of a trilateral framework until now hinders collective environmental stewardship. Despite initial strides in cooperation in the late 1990s and early 2000s, exemplified by the Joint Technical Committee meetings and Joint Communiqués, formal ratifications of Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) on water management have stalled, with parliamentary rejections symptomatic of persisting mistrust. The Syrian civil war and the emergence of the so-called Islamic State (IS) further strained diplomatic channels, halting progress in water governance and preventing effective transboundary management. Indeed, the rise of IS has had a significant impact on water security in the Euphrates-Tigris basin. IS’s actions exacerbated existing tensions between riparian states by disrupting water-sharing agreements and cooperation, contributing to regional instability. Until today, these actions pose challenges for the reconstruction and management of shared water resources in a sustainable and cooperative manner.