CONCLUSIONS - Hydrogeology: Objectives, Methods, Applications - page 312

Anatolian Project) aims to irrigate gigantic surfaces in Anatolia with water
from the Euphrates, depriving Syria of part of its water resources. Several
pharaonic projects, including the Keban and Ataturk dams, considerably
alter the hydrology and hydrogeology of these areas (Figure 142). A
convention was signed between the two countries, but the Syrians accuse
Turkey of not respecting it. Downstream, the Syrian Tabka dam in turn
deprives Iraq of a large infl ow. Similarly, Turkish dams on the Tigris are
very detrimental to Iraq.
Figure 142 Major dams in the Near East, which are sources of confl ict.
b) The Israeli-Palestinian confl ict
Tension in the Near East is in large part due to water problems (Figure
143). In Israel, the coastal aquifer is overexploited and the water supply of
irrigation systems depends on surface water from the Jordan river and on
the West Bank aquifer, where the pumping stations of the Israeli colonies
represent 90% of the water extracted from the resource. If a free Palestine
were to exploit its aquifers, it would deprive Israel of part of its water
resources. The construction of the barrier in the West Bank is probably
intended to protect numerous pumping stations. The 1967 conquest of