Water Conflicts - Turkey Gap Scheme issues

1. Turkey GAP Scheme
A2 Geography

2. Learning Objectives
• To look at the aims of the GAP scheme in
Turkey and understand the current
problems facing Turkey
• To appreciate the scope and concerns of
the GAP scheme
• To look at the future of scheme and issues
that may arise

3. Present Day Turkey
• The scarcity of water supplies in the river
basin of ancient Mesopotamia has long fed
disagreement among neighboring nations
• The Tigris and Euphrates rivers originate
in Turkey
• The river system is shared by several
countries and ethnic groups who regularly
disagree on water issues
• rising population in these areas is heavily
affecting the availability of water.

4. Present Day Turkey
• The Tigris and Euphrates are
especially important to Syria and
Iraq. Syria obtains approximately 85
percent of the renewable water
supply while Iraq obtains 100
percent from the combination of
both rivers
• The Turks (and the Kurds who live
in southeastern Turkey) are less
dependent on the rivers
• Southern Turkey suffers from
droughts

5. Aims of the GAP Scheme
• $32 billion South Eastern Anatolia project
to address droughts in Southern Turkey –
effects major cities of Ankara and Istanbul
• Turkey aims to be the ‘breadbasket’ of the
middle east – will therefore increase cash
crops
• Socio-economic development – create
better education , healthcare, more jobs
and so stop outmigration

6. What Does the Scheme Consist
of then?
• 22 dams, 19 HEP plants, which produce
22% of turkey energy by 2010
• Irrigate over 1.7 million hectares and
support 7% of the population
• South East Anatolia economy will grow by
400%
• Will dam the Euphrates and Tigris rivers

7. Water Scarcity Index
Turkey
Syria
Iraq

8. Concerns
• Syria and Iraq are unhappy as these rivers
provide most of there water. This makes it
a Geopolitical issue (
geography, economic and politics are
interconnected)
• Ilisu Dam on the Tigris was proposed but
they could not initially get funding due to
the impact this was going to have ( World
Bank, Uk Gov, Skansa Swedish TNC all
pulled out – key players) because it was
going to :

9. Concerns
• Flood nearly 80,000 homes
• Displace tens of thousands of Kurds
• Cause waterborne disease and Malaria to
occur more
• Rotting veg’n would release methane and
Co2 , so meaning it was damaging the
environment

10. Future
• 2004 Ilisu Dam scheme amended ( still
caused the displacement of the Kurds).
Funded by 3 companies combining
• Water was released to help out Syria, but
not Iraq
• New plan is to create Cizre Dam – will take
water out of the Tigris for irrigation and so
annoy Syria and Iran