Iraqi minister seeks more Turkish water

ANKARA, Turkey, May 28 (UPI) -- The Iraqi water minister met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to discuss increasing the water flow to Iraq amid a severe drought.

Iraqi Minister of Water Resources Abd al-Latif Rashid, a Kurdish lawmaker, arrived in Ankara Tuesday with a series of messages from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki concerning natural resources and diplomatic relations, the Kuwaiti News Agency reported.

"We are faced with a drought that has turned out to be more severe than expected. Therefore, we are asking for more water to ease our problems," Rashid said.

Iraq and Syria accused Turkey of withholding water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers during the 1990s, though officials from all countries met earlier this year to reach a resolution, the Turkish Daily News noted.

Rashid also relayed a message from the Iraqi premier noting Baghdad wanted to establish a committee of top-ranking officials to discuss diplomatic relations between the neighboring countries.

Erdogan is expected to meet with Iraqi officials the first week of June, though the formal date is being withheld for security reasons.

Rashid follows his meeting with Turkish officials with a visit to Syria to discuss the water issue with ministers in Damascus.