“A Big Deception”… Turkish Water Releases to Iraq End

The Green Iraq Observatory, which specializes in environmental affairs, confirmed that Sunday marks the last day of the grace period set by Türkiye for water releases into Iraq.

The observatory stated, in a statement received by Shafaq News Agency, that Turkey had announced the release of 400 cubic meters per second during July and August of this year, but Iraq was “seriously deceived” when it expected the releases to be in accordance with the Turkish announcement. It later emerged that Türkiye had only released 120 cubic meters per second.

The observatory noted that this prompted Iraq to release double this amount, resulting in the emptying of dams and regulators.

The Observatory warned that Iraq will suffer from a severe water shortage in the coming period until a solution is reached with Turkey through negotiations to extend the release period, especially given the possibility that politicians will exploit this issue during the election season.

The observatory concluded its statement by warning that Iraq is experiencing an extremely dire water situation that could worsen in the coming months if effective solutions are not provided by the responsible authorities. Furthermore, water quality remains unfit for consumption in most governorates.

In early July 2025, Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani announced from Ankara that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had agreed to increase water releases to Iraq by 420 cubic meters per second, starting Wednesday, July 2, 2025.

On the 8th of the same month, the Green Iraq Observatory revealed that the water Türkiye had released towards Iraq was only for two months, and that “those releases have not been carried out yet (July 8).”

Water resources strategy and policy expert Ramadan Hamza had previously revealed that Iraq would not benefit from increased water releases by Türkiye.

Shafaq.com