Turkmen, Afghan reps discuss water management cooperation

ASHGABAT. March 7 (Interfax) - While an African delegation visited Turkmenistan on March 4-6, the Turkmen side drew its attention to certain aspects of water management cooperation, the press service for the Turkmen Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

"While in Turkmenistan, the Afghan delegation had a meeting at the Turkmen Foreign Ministry and addressed a broad range of aspects of the implementation of economic projects and the provision of broad humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people. The interaction in water management was also touched upon," the press service said.

"The Turkmen side noted in this connection that the rational use of regional water resources should be based on the universally recognized norms of international law, which regulate the use of water from transborder rivers, watercourses and border lakes," it said.

It drew attention of the Afghan delegation to the need for a scientifically based and verified approach to water intake from transboundary rivers, the recruitment of highly qualified personnel to operate waterworks under construction on transboundary rivers, and unconditional respect for the interests of all states located along transboundary rivers, on the basis of international law and through the creation of appropriate water management mechanisms, the press service said.

As foreign media reported earlier, Afghanistan is building the Kush-Tepa canal on the Amu Darya River. The canal will be 285 kilometers long and 100 meters wide and will irrigate lands in three provinces to decrease the severity of the food problem in Afghanistan.

Experts think that the construction of the Kush-Tepa canal will aggravate water problems in Central Asia. The project assigns ten cubic kilometers of water for the canal each year, which ranges from a quarter to a third of the overall Amu Darya flow. If the downstream project is implemented, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan may face a large-scale environmental crisis, followed by a social crisis.

A high-ranking Afghan delegation led by acting Industry and Trade Minister Alhaj Noor Uddin Azizi visited Turkmenistan on March 4-6 for an exhibition of Afghan goods, a business forum and other events organized to expand Turkmen-Afghan trade and economic ties.