A ’water pauper’ surrounded by three seas
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mart 17, 2009 00:00
Any detailed discussion of water will eventually evoke "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" written in 1798 by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The poem tells the story of a mariner, stranded in a becalmed sea, running out of water.
"Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.
"Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink."
As Istanbul settles into the World Water Forum and its rival "alternative," we think the line from the poem is not a bad metaphor for the Turkish reality. Turkey is surrounded by three seas. Istanbul, often conceived as the meeting point of Asia and Europe, might be better described as two peninsulas jutting out from each continent to all but connect. Istanbul is a city of ancient and sacred fountains, many constructed over the centuries as part of the complexes of mosques; it is too a city of many mystical underground springs, or "ayazma," that are considered holy by Christians but are places of pilgrimage for all faiths in Istanbul. Water is at the center of Istanbul’s soul.
And the same might be said for Turkey. The headwaters of two great rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, are here in the highlands of Anatolia. There are scores of other rivers; some scientists consider Lake Van in Turkey’s east to be an inland sea. The tens of natural lakes in central Anatolia’s İsparta region have earned the area the sobriquet the "Lake District," inviting comparisons to the region of that name in northern England. And when our attention turns to Turkey’s southeast, development hopes inevitably turn on the Southeastern Anatolia Project, known by its Turkish acronym, GAP. Growing in fits and starts for two generations, the project envisions an area of irrigated agriculture nearly the size of Belgium.
And so, like the "mariner," a gaze at the resources fills us with pride that Turkey is a water-rich country in a water-poor region. In a relative sense, this may be so. But in reality, again like the "mariner," Turkey is a thirsty country and much of what appears to be available is not actually there to quench our thirst.
The status of "water rich" belongs to countries with at least 10,000 cubic meters per capita per person available each year. Canada, which has nearly 10 times that, ranks in the league of royalty. Turkey, which has 1,400 meters per year per capita, is in water terms a pauper.
This is the reality to which we must grow accustomed. We expect to know more by the end of the week about ourselves and our regional context than we know today. We won’t expect poetry this week from the World Water Forum. We will expect prose.
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.
"Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink."
As Istanbul settles into the World Water Forum and its rival "alternative," we think the line from the poem is not a bad metaphor for the Turkish reality. Turkey is surrounded by three seas. Istanbul, often conceived as the meeting point of Asia and Europe, might be better described as two peninsulas jutting out from each continent to all but connect. Istanbul is a city of ancient and sacred fountains, many constructed over the centuries as part of the complexes of mosques; it is too a city of many mystical underground springs, or "ayazma," that are considered holy by Christians but are places of pilgrimage for all faiths in Istanbul. Water is at the center of Istanbul’s soul.
And the same might be said for Turkey. The headwaters of two great rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates, are here in the highlands of Anatolia. There are scores of other rivers; some scientists consider Lake Van in Turkey’s east to be an inland sea. The tens of natural lakes in central Anatolia’s İsparta region have earned the area the sobriquet the "Lake District," inviting comparisons to the region of that name in northern England. And when our attention turns to Turkey’s southeast, development hopes inevitably turn on the Southeastern Anatolia Project, known by its Turkish acronym, GAP. Growing in fits and starts for two generations, the project envisions an area of irrigated agriculture nearly the size of Belgium.
And so, like the "mariner," a gaze at the resources fills us with pride that Turkey is a water-rich country in a water-poor region. In a relative sense, this may be so. But in reality, again like the "mariner," Turkey is a thirsty country and much of what appears to be available is not actually there to quench our thirst.
The status of "water rich" belongs to countries with at least 10,000 cubic meters per capita per person available each year. Canada, which has nearly 10 times that, ranks in the league of royalty. Turkey, which has 1,400 meters per year per capita, is in water terms a pauper.
This is the reality to which we must grow accustomed. We expect to know more by the end of the week about ourselves and our regional context than we know today. We won’t expect poetry this week from the World Water Forum. We will expect prose.