Turkey has indicated it may be willing to allow Iraq and Syria to have more water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, after both nations complained they were not being given their fair share.

“We have only received eight billion cubic meters of water from the Euphrates between August 2008 and August 2009. That means a decrease of 30 percent,” Latif Rashid, Iraq’s water minister said earlier this week (AFP).

“The situation in Iraq has never been as dire as it has been in the past two years. Iraq needs more water from both Syria and Turkey.”

Before a meeting on Thursday Turkey said it could not increase the rivers’ flow. But on Thursday environment minister Veysel Eroglu said attempts would be made to release more water.

“There is a serious water crisis in Iraq, we are taking this into account,” he said (AP). “But our own capabilities are limited.”

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Turkey, Syria, Iraq discuss water resource of Euphrates, Tigris rivers – Xinhua

Turkey, Iraq and Syria in water crisis summit – CNN