In the Middle East, the increasing urbanization rate with the increase in income that is gained from oil caused a big demand rise in consumption and importation. As a result, the necessity for water raised and states, which share a river, stream, lake or any water resource with themselves began to have more uptight relations. These relations began to be so bad that a war possibility emerged. Another thing that stimulates the water consumption in the Middle East is the day by day increasing population. This high birth rate rooted problem is causing the big demand for water and although there are ethnic, denominational and religious disagreements, the water problem is emerging as an extra problem in this geography. The Middle East region has an arid and sub-arid climate. Addition to that the increasing population reveals a dangerous hunger problem and to prevent this it is needed to find new food resources. I think this problem can be solved in two ways. First one is to increase the rate of products and food that are imported or as a second way new lands should be added to the cultivated lands to enhance production. Latter way, to enlarge arable lands, seems less useful because of absence of arable lands in the region. Because deserts are seen in most places. But how the irrigation will be made? Because there is no enough water even to drink! In my opinion the first solution is more applicable. Because states in this region are able to increase their importation rates thank to increasing GDPs which is resulted from big oil trade. As you can see both problems and solutions are based on themselves and they are only a part of a chain of problems.
All these are the “small results” of water shortage and possible solutions to them. But we should not forget the most dangerous possibility that is a “war for water” possibility. We saw some examples not as a war but as diplomatic disputes in recent years. The problems between Turkey-Syria-Iraq and Egypt-Sudan exemplify these disputes.
Doing a full-scale irrigation or building full-scale dams on a river, which is being used by more than one countries, result in increase of one of the countries’ prosperity and living standards but result in decrease of the another countries’ ecologic and economic standards. Moreover, the usage of water resources in high rates by up-stream riparian country results in shortage in the rate of potable water and irrigation water and even in drought in down-stream riparian countries. Also, building of dams and barrages by the countries in the places, where the water enters their lands may cause in spates and flooding in the lands of riparian and neighbor countries.
All these problems and possibilities inspire countries, which have water shortage or have possible problems to meet in the same point: to get on well together and to accord. If a possible war is the result, which is not wanted, communion and sharing are the only choices. The relations between states and condition in the region are pregnancy to a war. To decrease the disputes and to achieve the regional peace should be the main aim of the states.
Nail ELHAN
