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Resolution of conflicts over the sharing of water resources in the Middle East has emerged over the past decade as one of the fundamental issues for peace and stability in the region. The disputes over the Euphrates-Tigris Rivers among Turkey, Syria and Iraq are no exception. With the initiation of dam building and various water development projects during the 1950s, water sharing has gradually become a major concern particularly of the downstream states. The Southeast Anatolia Development Project, or simply GAP (Giineydogu Anadolu Projesi) in its Turkish acronym, which combines a number of giant irrigation and energy projects with a total of 22 dams, has exacerbated these concerns both for Syria and Iraq. The transformation of GAP from a largely hydroelectric project to an integrated, regional development programme starting in the mid-1980s has further increased the anxiety of both midstream and downstream countries.' The increasing consumptive use of water by Turkey magnified concerns for not only the quantity but also the quality of water flowing into Syria and Iraq. The water issue was also a significant part of the serious row between Turkey and Syria in August 1998. Even though the conflict appeared to emerge from the ongoing Kurdish confrontation in southeast Turkey, the underlying issue was still the water dispute. It was in fact the linkages between the ethnic conflict and the water issue that have become contentious between Turkey and Syria. Syria has increasingly complained that it is not receiving its due share of water in the Euphrates-Tigris basin. Turkey claims that Syria has made use of the 'ethnic card', namely the logistic support for Kurdish separatists known by their acronym PKK (Partia Karkaren Kurdistan or Kurdistan Workers' Party), in order to induce Turkey to make concessions on the water issue. Turkey's response came in the shape of military pressure to force an end to Syria's active use of the ethnic card, which brought the two sides to the brink of war. What this August 1998 confrontation also showed is that the analysis of the water dispute between Turkey and its southern neighbours involves dynamics that include a complex web of interactions between domestic and
Çarkoğlu et al. (Mon,) studied this question.