THE drying out of the vast marshes around the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in
southern Iraq is an environmental and humanitarian tragedy. And, as a report
from the United Nations Environment Programme this week makes clear, it is a
tragedy with several villains
(“Iraqi wetlands face total destruction”).
Until now, fingers have pointed mainly at Saddam Hussein, who had the marshes
drained after a rebellion by their inhabitants, the Marsh Arabs, back in 1992.
But Turkey must also take its share of responsibility. Its damming of the
headwaters of the Euphrates ended the spring floods that once replenished the…
