Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gestures as he delivers a speech during his governing party's congress in Ankara, Turkey, on March 24, 2021.
“We are preparing a water law in parliament to reach our goals faster and to prevent conflicts of authority in water management,” Erdogan said in the capital Ankara at the launch of a new Water Council and mass opening ceremony for 363 facilities.Stressing that Turkey needs to renew agricultural irrigation systems, he said the country should use its existing resources more efficiently by encouraging water conservation.
“We have always shown the necessary sensitivity to meeting the water needs of our neighbours. We have never turned the water issue into a threat or a bargaining tool in our bilateral ties. We will maintain this same fair attitude going forward,” he added. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic and a drought, last year Turkey broke a national record for agricultural output, he added.