Turkish FM visits Grand Ayatollah Sistani in Najaf

Turkey and Iraq should apply for U.N. arbitration to resolve a long-standing water problem, according to Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the spiritual leader for Shi’ite Muslims in Iraq and the wider region.

He made the suggestion yesterday at a meeting with Foreign Minister Ahmed Davudoghlu as part of the Turkish minister’s two-day trip to Iraq.
A source familiar with the talks told the Turkish daily Hürriyet: “Grand Ayatollah Sistani complained about Turkey’s cutting of the flow of water into Iraq and Turkey’s construction of dams on these rivers.”
The rivers in question, the Euphrates and Tigris, both begin in what is now Turkey but was part of ancient Mesopotamia, and pass through Syria and Iraq before emptying into the Persian Gulf at Basra.
Grand Ayatollah Sistani said Iraqis were suffering from water shortages and that the issue should be resolved through bilateral mechanisms and, if subsequently necessary, through U.N. arbitration.
Davudoghlu explained Turkey’s position with regard to water allowance to neighboring countries, but the Grand Ayatollah was unconvinced, according to the source.
Davudoghlu earlier said he would not discuss political issues with Grand Ayatollah Sistani but most of their conversation reportedly focused on political issues. The two men also discussed ways to avoid a sectarian clash in the region.
Davudoghlu, in his statement after the meeting with Grand Ayatollah Sistani, expressed his happiness for being in holy Najaf, which houses the grand mausoleum of the Commander of the Faithful, Imam Ali ibn Abi Talebb (AS), during the mourning month of Muharram.
He described his meetings with both Grand Ayatollah Sistani and Noqtada as-Sadr as “productive,” in regards to eliminating concerns over a regional sectarian conflict.
Black shirt, green scarf
In a highly symbolic move to demonstrate his mourning for the martyrdom of Imam Husain (AS), which is commemorated during Moharram, Davudoghlu wore a black shirt and a green scarf.
Earlier the Turkish foreign minister had visited Moqtada as-Sadr, in Najaf before proceeding to another Shiite holy town, Karbala.