Turkish Minister of Agriculture Evades Questions on Euphrates Water Detention

An official meeting between the Turkish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, İbrahim Yumaklı, and his counterpart from the Syrian Interim Government, Amjad Badr, which was scheduled to sign an “Agricultural Cooperation Agreement,” turned into merely a memorandum of understanding following sharp disputes over the water issue and the Turkish minister’s avoidance of responding to inquiries related to Syria’s share of the Euphrates River water.

Ignoring the Water Issue

According to private sources, Yumaklı evaded answering direct questions posed by the Syrian side three times regarding Ankara’s non-compliance with the Euphrates water-sharing agreement, which guarantees Syria 500 cubic meters per second. Instead of responding, the Turkish minister focused on issues related to “security concerns” about the Autonomous Administration in eastern Euphrates and the Druze community, causing significant embarrassment, especially since the Syrian Minister of Agriculture belongs to the same sect.

Escalating Crises

This comes at a time when the Euphrates River is witnessing a critical drop in its water level, with a daily decrease of up to 2 centimeters, threatening the structural integrity of the Euphrates Dam and exposing it to erosion and climatic factors. Estimates indicate a loss of more than 6 billion cubic meters from the reservoir’s volume, while irrigation canal flow has decreased to only 20 cubic meters per second.

This decline has had a direct impact on the lives of residents in northern and eastern Syria, where drinking water pumping stations have stopped for consecutive days, and farmers have suffered heavy losses due to the lack of irrigation water, amid warnings of an imminent humanitarian disaster.

Incomplete Agreement and Negative Impressions

The meeting held yesterday in Damascus concluded without signing an official memorandum of understanding after the Syrian delegation requested a break to reassess the situation, amid what diplomatic sources described as “Turkish attempts to impose an agricultural agenda that serves its own interests.”

Meanwhile, Yumaklı focused in his speech on agricultural support plans for Syria over the next two years without offering any clear commitments regarding water, which increased public and official concerns about Ankara’s true intentions toward the crisis.