Geopolitical analysis of Turkish water policy (Gap project) and its consequences Dr zahra pishgahifard.academic staff member of political geography at the university of tehran (corresponding author)

Water has economic, social and environmental effects on spatial development, so this phenomenon is becoming more competitive, more political and more secure. One of the areas where water scarcity is most pronounced is Southwest Asia, and this situation is more pronounced in Iraq and Syria due to its downstream than the Tigris and Euphrates border rivers. Turkey is one of the water-rich countries due to the amount of rainfall and suitable climatic conditions from which the Tigris and Euphrates rivers originate, and most of the water resources of Iraq and Syria originate from Turkey, and these countries are highly agricultural, environmental and Drinking depends on water sources coming from Turkey. By establishing large water projects (Gap project) in southeastern Turkey, Turkey seeks to control the border waters in the Tigris and Euphrates tributaries and pursue its geopolitical goals based on hydro-hegemon and hydropower. Due to the dependence of Iraq and Syria on the border waters with Turkey, it seems that in the near future, the countries downstream of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers will face widespread water tensions. This descriptive- analytical study, using library and Internet resources, seeks to analyze the geopolitics of Turkey's water policies and their consequences in the downstream countries of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (Iraq and Syria). The results show that Turkey's strategic goals and water policies in the field of extraction and control of border waters, the use of this empowering geopolitical element in line with geo-economic goals (balanced domestic development and achievement of European standards, aligning Kurds with the core Central to this is the rise of bargaining power in energy transactions in the region (geostrategic) (weakening the PKK and its supporting neighbors, operationalizing the neo-Ottoman discourse in the Ottoman Empire).