Turks Pursue a Policy of Reducing Water Flow Towards Armenia

According to the Water Committee of Armenia, Turkey is pursuing a policy seeking to reduce the flow of water towards the Akhurian reservoir and the Araxes River.

This was stated at the parliamentary hearings on the topic “Problems of Lake Sevan” on September 28 by Inessa Gabayan, the Chairman of the Water Committee of the Ministry of Energetic Infrastructures and Natural Resources of Armenia.

According to her, this year, Turkey completed the construction of another reservoir located on the river Karsachay. “The fact is that that the flow of water to the Akhuryan reservoir will be reduced,” said Gabayan.

“Over 800 million cubic meters of water is exported for fish farming. At the same time, we store 700 million cubic meters of water in our reservoirs. Due to the development of fish farming, the river Sev Jur – which in the past provided water for large irrigation areas – dried out,” said the head of the committee and added that about 35 million cubic meters of water from Lake Arpi is wasted.

As for the hidden gardens, Gabayan noted: “Of course, there are such lands, but another question arises. No matter how many secret lands we have, utilizing them will not lead to a reduction in water waste because a garden needs to be watered anyway,” – said Gabayan.