Turkey, Syria and Iraq: conflict over the Euphrates-Tigris The Euphrates-Tigris Basin is shared between Turkey, Syria and Iraq, with Iran comprising parts of the Tigris basin. In the 1970s, Turkey began damming the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which both start in Turkey. The disputes between Turkey and Iraq over water continue to be a problem for the relations between both countries and especially for those who do not have the power over this important resource. Use of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers has always been a point of potential conflict between Turkey, Iraq and Syria. Since 1975, Turkey’s dam and hydropower construction has cut water flow to Iraq by 80 percent and to Syria by 40 percent. Syria and Iraq have accused Turkey of hoarding water. And over the years, water has brought Iraq, Syria and Turkey close to war over their shared rivers, the Euphrates and Tigris. After World War I, the Kurds were left without a state of their own, ending up spread across Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. Against that backdrop, a militant group, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), emerged seeking a Kurdish state within Turkey. Iraq and Turkey have a long history of water disputes that dates back to the 1920s after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Iraq, Syria and Turkey emerged as independent states sharing rivers, which created an environment for potential conflict. Turkey is in conflict with Syria and Iraq, because the Euphrates river starts in Turkey and runs through Syria and Iraq. It is at the heart of the siege of Gaza — the River Jordan is the big prize for Israel and the Palestinians. Water matters at least as much as land. The tension over the water allocation that was on the negotiating table since the 1960s ended with no substantial agreement between the riparian countries (Iraq, Turkey and Syria). What would have happened if the diplomatic hostilities turned into open warfare between the three countries over use of Euphrates and Tigris water beginning after the Iran-Iraq war had ended but before Gulf War 1, say beginning 1990? Fights over water have pervaded the Middle East for a long time now. As ethnic minorities in these states, Kurds frequently faced repression. Turkey is the state that has the source of the river on its territory and also has a stronger economic and political position towards Iraq. Turkey's 1,200-megawatt Ilisu Dam on the Tigris River in southeastern Anatolia, located 30 kilometers north of the Turkish border with Syria, has been a cause of conflict with Syria and Iraq. Ongoing struggles between the Turkish government and Kurdish separatists may become an international conflict in the future, if Turkey manipulates either Syria or Iraq (or both) into dealing with Kurdish populations within their borders in return for guaranteed supplies of water. “This was a major blow to Syria and Iraq, which are now drought-ridden water … The rivers Tigris and Euphrates run from Turkey through Syria …