The start of the third Baghdad International Water Conference
Yesterday , the third Baghdad International Water Conference kicked off in Baghdad, with the participation of a Syrian delegation headed by Dr. Tammam Raad, Minister of Water Resources.
In a speech before the conference, Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia’ al-Sudani called for urgent international intervention to address the water scarcity from which the countries of the region suffer and which constitutes a threat to the culture and civilization of Iraq.
Al-Sudani pointed out that the Iraqi government intends to desalinate sea water after turning to the expertise of developed countries to benefit from it in this regard.
Minister Raad said: Syria is participating in this conference after its participation in its first session to deepen the coordination with Iraq in order to obtain fair shares of the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers jointly and on accurate scientific bases.
He stressed that the practices of the Turkish side withholding the water quotas of Syria and Iraq is inconsistent with all recognized international laws regarding the international waters shared between the riparian countries of international rivers.
For his part, the Undersecretary of the Iraqi Minister of Water Resources, Raed Al-Jashami, praised the Syrian participation in the conference, and said: This conference highlights the common concerns of all contributing countries in facing climate changes, lack of rain and water scarcity for many reasons, including the increasing population and the global food crisis.
Al-Jashami indicated that the participating countries will discuss several files and topics, in addition to holding workshops through which they will learn about modern irrigation techniques, and the use of wastewater after treatment instead of directing it to pure water.
The third Baghdad International Water Conference seeks to find alternatives and possible solutions to mitigate the effects of climate change and global warming, and to achieve the sustainability of the marshes and wetlands environment to preserve the ecosystem in the region.
O. al-Mohammad