Turkish ambitions unfold again: Erdogan raids Iraq’s goods with Ilisu dam

Mahmoud Mohammadi

The proposed Ilisu Dam project on the Tigris River in southern Turkey has sparked widespread international controversy. International attitudes and reactions have varied between supporters and opponents of this step because of its serious negative effects on Iraq and Syria.

Images show that water is pooling behind the Ilisu dam on the Tigris River, which runs through Turkey and flows into Iraq. Ankara has been hit by Iraqi complaints of a drop in water flows in the summer, and that the filling of the dam will displace thousands in Turkey itself.

The Tigris River originates from the Taurus Mountains in southeastern Turkey. It passes through Syria 50km in the outskirts of the city of Qamishli. It then enters the territory of Iraq at the town of Faysh Khabur. The river contains a wide range of tributaries in Turkey, Iran and Iraq.

The Ilisu, a large Turkish artificial dam built on the Tigris River, opened in February 2018. Its water reservoir began to be filled on June 1, 2018. The Turkish government began construction in 2006, and the project was supposed to be completed in 2014. The dam has a capacity of 10.4 billion cubic meters, is 135 meters high, 1,820 meters wide, with a total size of 34.9 billion square meters and a width of 15 meters at the top and a width of 610 meters at the base. It is controlled by eight radial gates and four holes where water is poured before reaching the pond of the reservoir. It also contains Francis turbine generators with a capacity of 6×200 MW.

In a study titled “The Ilisu Dam Project and Its Impact on the Economic Situation of Iraq”, published by the Center for Regional Studies, Dr. Hussein Al-Abbasi from the University of Mosul explained that the technical studies recently carried out in Kuwait confirmed that certain areas in the northern Gulf were affected by this project, including fish and shrimp areas in the Iraq’s Tigris and Euphrates rivers and natural systems.

He stressed that the effects of this dangerous project are the displacement of a large number of the population, especially the Kurds living in southeastern Anatolia, and the flooding of hundreds of important archaeological sites, as well as the risk of pollution caused by the frequent use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers by Turkish farmers.

He added that the danger is in the transfer of all the water stored from the Tigris River to Turkey before entering the Iraqi territory located near the shared border, as the dam project will control the quantities of water received immediately after its completion. The river will fall from 20.93 billion cubic meters per year to 9.7 billion cubic meters, representing only 47 percent of the annual revenue of the river. This will have serious repercussions for the country’s overall situation, especially agricultural, industrial and power generation projects.

Turkish greed 

The Turkish government aims to build the dam and claims to generate electricity through hydroelectric power plants. It will help generate power of up to 1,200 megawatts, which will cover the energy needs of about two million Turkish families. It is also aimed at seeking economic development. In Turkey’s southeastern Anatolia region, which is characterized by high unemployment and poverty, this project will help create jobs for the people of this region and also contribute to improving the quality of life and education.

The idea of establishing the dam has received objections from the beginning. The Turkish argument has been refuted: Turkey is not suffering from any energy crisis. Although energy consumption is increasing annually by 5-6%, there is great neglect in exploiting all possibilities. Turkey does not need to more energy sources for another 10 years.

Collapse of Iraq

Iraqi researcher Nawar Jalil Hashim said in a study that the environmental damage caused by the shrinking green lands and pastures, and the desertification of the land, will be reflected in the weather in Iraq. Sand storms will be repeated throughout the year and the dam will turn half of Iraq into desert.

He added that the dam will deprive large numbers of the population of drinking water and will contaminate residual water because it will pass through hydroelectric generators, and then added to contaminated water out of the sewage systems of the cities on the Tigris River, increasing the level of pollution and salinity in this water to 1,800 mg/l. It is the same with the Euphrates, which Turkey and Syria allow to pass to Iraq after being saturated with pollutants and salts from consumption, agriculture and industry in Syria, while the global rate of pollution does not exceed 800 mg/l.

The study pointed out that the dam will change the way of life for the population to unproductive patterns, the deterioration of agriculture and grazing, and a decline in the number of livestock. In addition, the recovery of the marshes will be affected with the decline of Iraq’s imports on the Tigris and Euphrates by 90% because of the Turkish dams, along with the dangerous Iranian projects, and the salinity and pollution levels in the marshes will increase.

He stressed that the decrease in water levels in the Tigris will lead to the interruption of work in power generation systems along the river, especially at the dams of Mosul and Samarra, and will affect the industrial activity and infrastructure such as water filters, oil refineries and hospitals.

He also pointed out that the effects of Ilisu will extend the course of the rivers to the northern Gulf, where scientific studies and samples from the coast of Kuwait show that the harmful effects of contaminated water has been spotted in fishing and shrimp areas.