US embassy cable - 05ANKARA248

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 000248 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/10/2015 
TAGS: SENV, SY, TU 
SUBJECT: TURKEY OK'S SYRIA'S REQUEST TO DRAW WATER FROM THE 
TIGRIS RIVER 
 
 
1.  (U) In addition to positive rhetoric and signing of a 
trade agreement, Turkey and Syria reached symbolic agreements 
on two heretofore sensitive transboundary water issues during 
Prime Minster Erdogan's December 22-23 visit to Damascus. 
Turkey agreed to a Syrian request to draw water from the 
Tigris river to irrigate 150,000 hectares in northeast Syria, 
and the two sides agreed in principle to a dam project on the 
Orontes River, which runs from northwest Syria into Turkey's 
Hatay province, forming the border for much of its way. 
 
Tigris Water for Syria 
---------------------- 
2.  (U) The Syrian plan calls for the construction of pumps 
and pipes to transport water from the Tigris valley into the 
plains of northeast Syria.  According to Turkey's MFA, the 
Syrians plans to pump as much as 100 cubic meters per second 
during high water flow periods and only 15 cubic meters per 
second in the summer when the Tigris flow is lowest.  This 
represents a significant draw from the Tigris, which flows on 
average at about 350 cubic meters per second at the Syrian 
border.  The water will be pumped into a reservoir for 
storage and used to irrigate 150,000 hectares. 
 
3.  (C) MFA told us that Turkish officials did not believe 
Syria needed Turkey's permission to extract water from its 
side of the Tigris, which forms the Turkish border in the 
region, just before flowing into Iraq.  Erdogan told the 
Syrians that Turkey had "no objection" to this plan. 
Somewhat bemused, MFA noted to us that, Syria is not taking 
water from Turkey but from Iraq.  The Syrians told Turkish 
officials that Iraqi officials had agreed to the proposal two 
years ago (during the Saddam regime).  Turkish officials 
emphasized that while Turkey has no current objection to the 
project, the issue should be addressed at some later date by 
the three states.  MFA DDG Mithat Rende added that the Syrian 
plan is expensive -- both for the equipment required and the 
energy cost of pumping the water -- and inefficient because 
of the high degree of evaporation from the reservoir and the 
inefficiency of Syrian agriculture in the arid northeast of 
Syria. 
 
Orontes River Dam 
------------- 
4.  (C) After giving his nod to the Iraqi request, Erdogan 
raised the long-contentious issue of the Turkish plan to dam 
the Orontes river, which runs from northwest Syria into the 
Hatay province of Turkey.  The dam project, designed in 1990, 
would provide water to irrigate 20,000 hectares in Turkey and 
10,000 hectares in Syria, help control seasonal flooding and 
provide hydropower.  Rende said that Syrian officials "agreed 
in principle" to proceed with the project but needed to look 
over the details before going forward.  Rende claimed that 
Syria's agreement on the Orontes is a de facto recognition of 
Turkey's sovereignty over Hatay province, which Syria has 
long claimed belongs to it as the lost Sanjak of 
Alexandretta.  Rende also pointed out that the Syrians 
continue to be inconsistent in their transboundary water 
policy:  when it concerns the Euphrates, they insist that 
they have a right to the water, but in the case of the 
Orontes, with headwaters in Syria, the Syrians insist that 
the waters are theirs to control. 
 
6.  (U) Baghdad Minimize Considered. 
EDELMAN