TURKEY-IRAN BORDER FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF HYDROPOLITICS

43747

This study, which addressed the international border line between Turkey and Iran and its close vicinity from the hydro political perspective, aimed to generate early awareness by identifying the aspects of water and water resources in the region that will be crucial in terms of the future equilibrium of countries and relevant and potential risk areas in order to determine appropriate strategies. The study explored the current position regarding the ownership of the water resources in the light of international treaties and the literature and presented the average flow distribution including the territory of both countries on the basis of standard climatic data. For this process, 36-year CFSR temperature and precipitation data were utilized with the Thornthwaite water balance sheet calculation method. The data analytically evaluated with the help of topographic data based on the SRTM 90m resolution digital elevation model and ArcGis 10.5 package program were used to determine the objective and average flow condition of the area. Accordingly, it is expected that the demand for water resources will increase in the region especially in the lower courses, as the population density and the volume of agricultural activities and drought increase on the Iranian side and that the sharing of the streams between the two countries, such as Aşağı Karasu, Sarısu, Kotur Creek and Nazlı Creek, can be put on the agenda again due to Iran s demand for more water and may endanger sharing the water resources based on principles of fair and reasonable use.

242

Hydropolitics , Transboundary Waters , Turkey , Iran Border , GIS Modeling

International Journal of Geography and Geography Education

255

International Journal of Geography and Geography Education