Iraqi PM to discuss water, security and trade in Turkey

Sources revealed that the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, will head a ministerial delegation to Turkey on Tuesday for a two-day visit.

The Iraqi delegation will discuss several topics, most importantly the water, border security, the PKK presence on Iraqi territories, as well as and political and economic issues, Al-Arabiya News reported.

On Saturday, the spokesperson of the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources, Khaled Shamal, confirmed that Iraq is currently suffering from a significant shortage in water reserves.

Earlier, the Iraqi Minister of Water Resources, Aoun Diab, announced that he will head an Iraqi delegation to Turkey soon to discuss the repercussions of the water crisis and drought in Iraq.

The Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources mentioned in a statement that Diab received the Turkish Ambassador to Iraq, Ali Reza Guney, to discuss cooperation between the two countries in the irrigation issue, the challenges facing Iraq as a result of the climate change, and to guarantee Iraq’s water rights, according to the Iraqi News Agency (INA).

The statement added that Diab explained how bad is the water situation in Iraq, which is going through severe scarcity conditions for four consecutive years that Iraq did not witness since 1933.

The statement also called on Turkey to activate the memorandum of understanding related to water signed between the two countries.