TurkeyToday

Istanbul, Turkey
Monday, March 21, 2015
2 pages
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Turkey Combats Terrorism

Terrorist networks have evolved for the
worst, recently as the civil war in Syria and the
rise as the Islamic state better known as ISIS is
spreading in Middle East, countries and several
alliances are seeking to protect citizens being
affected. Turkey being the border of Syria has
been involved with the intentions of wanting to
stop this war. However stopping such powerful
forces has not been the most easiest thing for
Turkey.
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Turkey has been a shelter for more that 1

million of Syrian refugees,that is 13% of the
Turkish population 2

. The Turkish government

has spent $1.5 billion on refugees. This price tag
is not final as the number of refugees is
constantly rising, Turkey is looking for support
in other international support where they
managed to have, found the UNHCR ( The UN
Refugee Agency)and others who have access
refugees. These camps are primarily along the
border.
Turkey has been faced with some difficult
decisions regarding the US agreement in the

joint mission on the fight against ISIS. 3

Turkey
being a key ally to the US, has refused to this
agreement. Turkey said that they are willing to
open up air force space and air force base but
do not want to have any direct participation
because it would jeopardize the safety of the
country.
As ISIS is taking over Kobani just steps away
from Turkey, they have realized that their
participation the U.S coalition is vital, they came
to conclusion that they need to update the

policy. 1
They signed an agreement that would

provide Syrian rebels equipment and

training that will take place in Turkey,
Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The U.S
congress passed the legislation for $500
million as well as training a total of 5,00
rebels.
In addition to the signing U.S also
want the Turkish government to crack
down on the black market sales
primarily because they are a huge part
in founding ISIS. 4

One of the main

product is smuggled fuel coming from
the oil well from Syria controlled by the
ISIS. $3 million per day is what ISIS
gains in revenue. 5

The authorities have

taken upon themselves in stopping
these illegal actions and noticed that
they have made a significant difference
because they realized that 6 months ago
the oil trade was blossoming business
then disrupting it. Illicit diese is still out
there along the border. However
smugglers are not as successful as they
were 6 months before they took action
making it tough for them.


Turkeyswatercrisisneedtobefixed

Waterissuchavaluableresourcethatmany
oftheworldscountriesareslowlyrunningoutof
andTurkeyisnoexception.Thedemandof
waterhasskyrocketbutwatersourcesare
shrinking.TheTigrisandEuphratesriver
startinginTurkeyandrunningthroughSyriaand
Iraqhaveexperienceseriousreductionofwater
1
flowforthepastyears
.Theclimatethathas
beencontributingtothismatter,notmanydrops
ofrainhavefallenuponTurkeymakingthis
situationevenmoredifficult.

ThefactthatTheTigrisriverandEuphrates
riverbothoriginateinTurkeytheyarethe
countrytoblame.TurkeyandIraqhaveclaimed
haveclaimedmanipulationoftheEuphratesas
faras1975andarguethattheconditionshave
worsenbytheTurkishwaterpolicy.Around
90%oftheEuphratesriverandabout50%ofthe
Tigrisriverwaterflowdirectiongoestowards
2
Turkey
.Howeverlatelythewaterdroughthas
becomesoseverethatTurkeyisrunningout
meaningothercountrieswillbeaffectedaswell.

WithrapidpopulationincreasesinTurkey,
SyriaandIraq,theissuesofaccesstowaterand
watermanagementarelikelytobecome
progressivelymorecritical.Ashardasitistoget
overthisargumentweneedtomenditand
becomesoseverethatTurkeyisrunningout
meaningothercountrieswillbeaffectedas
well.thatIraqandSyriaaresouthofTurkeythey
bothsaysthattheyarenotlettingenoughwater

flowdownthestreamforitspeopleandcrops,
thisvitalfortheireconomicandpopulation
4
growth
.Thereisnodoubtthatisifthis
continuestohappenallthreecountrieswill
burstoutintoawaterwar.

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managementisthekeypointtoensure
theneedsofthepresentandfuture
generations.Weneedtoactnowtoget
thisproblemfixed!

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Thecountryneedstostarttalkingabout
plansforthefutureandlookingforalternatives.
Recyclingwastewaterisastartingpointto
conservingthelimitedsupplyofwater.Aswell
aswaterdesalinationastiisgainingpopularity
asasolutionnewtechnologiesarelowering
3
costbutstillremainquiteexpensive
.Learning
fromthepreviousexperiencesiscrucial,water