Iraq ‘Deceived’ by Türkiye Over Water Release, Warns Iraqi Observatory

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Iraq was “seriously deceived” by Türkiye over a crucial water-sharing agreement, an environmental watchdog has warned, accusing Ankara of failing to deliver on a promised increase in water flow to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The allegation comes as Iraq grapples with its worst water crisis in 80 years, a national emergency that has seen water reserves plummet to unprecedented lows, forcing drastic cuts to agriculture and threatening the livelihoods of millions.

The Green Iraq Observatory, in a statement issued on Sunday, August 31, 2025—the final day of a two-month period during which Türkiye had pledged to release more water—declared that Ankara had not honored its commitment.

According to the observatory, Türkiye had announced it would release 400 cubic meters of water per second to Iraq throughout July and August. However, it later turned out that only 120 cubic meters per second had actually been released.

The observatory further noted that Türkiye's misleading announcement had prompted Iraq to release twice the expected amount from its own reservoirs, a miscalculation that has severely depleted the nation's already strained dams and water storage facilities.

The observatory issued a stark warning that Iraq will face a severe water crisis in the future unless the issue is resolved with Türkiye, either through renewed negotiations or an extension of the water release period. It described Iraq’s current water situation as "bad and dangerous," with the potential to worsen in the coming months if a solution is not found.

Compounding the scarcity is a crisis of quality, with the observatory noting that the water in most provinces is "poor and unfit for use."

This latest development deepens a crisis that has reached catastrophic proportions.

As Kurdistan24 reported on August 27, 2025, Iraq's water reserves have plunged to their lowest levels in 80 years, a situation that Khalid al-Shamal, spokesperson for the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources, described as more acute than the previous year. 

Al-Shamal revealed that Iraq's reserves stood at a mere 10 billion cubic meters, a stark drop from an anticipated 18 billion. He attributed the dire shortage to insufficient rainfall, minimal snowmelt, and a significant reduction in the flow of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, with Iraq receiving less than 40% of its rightful share of water.

This has forced the government to slash the agricultural plan for the summer, allocating only one and a half million donums of land compared to two and a half million last year, in a desperate bid to preserve drinking water for its 46 million citizens.

The crisis is the culmination of decades of environmental degradation, climate change, and, most critically, the impact of upstream damming by neighboring countries, particularly Türkiye. The Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) has granted Türkiye extensive control over the headwaters of the Tigris and Euphrates, rivers that are the lifeblood of Iraq.

As Kurdistan24 has extensively documented, the consequences on the ground have been devastating. In August 2025, reports from Iraq detailed the dramatic receding of the rivers, with citizens observing islands appearing in the Tigris and areas where the river could be crossed on foot. Local fisherman Hassan Jabr told Kurdistan24 that the water level had dropped by three to four meters, exposing the riverbed.

The Iraqi Parliament’s Agriculture Committee has warned of the impending mass displacement of villagers from agricultural lands to already overburdened cities, a demographic shift that threatens to destabilize the country. Faleh al-Khazali, the committee's head, has called for Türkiye to release at least 800 cubic meters per second.

This severe reduction in flow—down to less than 190 cubic meters per second from a historical average of 500-600—has raised fears of drinking water treatment plant closures in southern and central Iraq.

Successive Iraqi governments have been criticized for a chronic lack of strategic planning to mitigate the crisis.

Environmental expert Salih Najib told Kurdistan24 in July 2025 that Iraq’s heavy reliance on external water sources—with 80% originating in Türkiye—has been compounded by a failure to invest in its own water infrastructure, with Iraq possessing only 22 dams compared to Türkiye's 1,250 and Iran's 647.

The UN has ranked Iraq as one of the five countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, with desertification consuming vast swathes of agricultural land and forcing internal displacement.

The human cost of this crisis is stark and growing. Reports from across the country have painted a grim picture. In Anbar province, half a million residents have been affected by both water scarcity and poor quality, forcing them to buy expensive water from tanker trucks.

In Baghdad, residents of neighborhoods like the Euphrates have been forced to abandon their homes after going months without tap water. In Babil province, hundreds of residents have taken to the streets to protest, demanding government intervention.

High-level diplomatic efforts to resolve the issue have so far yielded little fruit. Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rasheed discussed the crisis with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan in August 2023, emphasizing the need for a fair and sufficient water share. While Türkiye has affirmed its commitment to addressing the issue, the Green Iraq Observatory's latest statement suggests that such commitments have not translated into action on the ground.

Internally, Iraq is attempting to adapt, overhauling its agricultural practices with modern irrigation techniques and cracking down on illegal water use. However, these measures can only do so much in the face of such a drastic reduction in the country's primary water sources.

As the riverbeds widen and the reservoirs shrink, the deception alleged by the Green Iraq Observatory adds a bitter political dimension to a deepening environmental and humanitarian catastrophe, leaving a nation on the brink, desperately searching for a solution before its most vital resource runs dry.