Siyaset Bilimi ve Uluslararası İlişkiler Bölümü Koleksiyonu

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11779/1939

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  • Article
    A Discourse Analysis of Bilateral Water Agreements Between Türkiye and Iraq: Legal Instruments of Water Diplomacy in the Euphrates-Tigris River Basin
    (International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, 2026) Güleç, Cansu; Kibaroglu, Aysegul
    This study examines the discursive dynamics of bilateral water diplomacy between T & uuml;rkiye and Iraq through a detailed analysis of the legal agreements governing the Euphrates-Tigris (ET) River system. Rather than focusing on the implementation or efficacy of these agreements, the paper investigates how discourse shapes the roles, identities, and power hierarchies of the involved actors over time. Employing a discourse-analytical framework, the research explores how water agreements position actors, embed values, and narrate cooperation in evolving geopolitical contexts. The paper begins with a historical overview of transboundary water relations in the ET basin, emphasizing the prevalence of bilateralism. It then lays out the conceptual and methodological foundations of discourse analysis, drawing on key literature and analytical categories such as presupposition, predication, and subject positioning. The core section applies this framework to four key water agreements between T & uuml;rkiye and Iraq, highlighting thematic shifts and evolving actor roles. A discussion section synthesizes findings through Doty's (1993) discourse model, emphasizing how identities and relations are constructed over time. Finally, the conclusion reflects on the implications of these discursive trends for the future of water diplomacy in the region. The T & uuml;rkiye-Iraq case reveals how bilateral agreements can evolve into discursive tools that align with evolving global water management paradigms, offering politically sensitive basins a transferable approach to linking contested transboundary water issues with more comprehensive and partnership-based water diplomacy.
  • Review
    Citation - WoS: 14
    Citation - Scopus: 19
    Water and ‘imperfect Peace’ in the Euphrates–tigris River Basin
    (Oxford University Press (OUP), 2021) Kibaroğlu, Ayşegül; Sayan, Ramazan Caner
    Transboundary water politics in the Euphrates–Tigris (ET) basin has long developed in tandem with the various political confrontations that have taken place among Iraq, Syria and Turkey. However, since the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the beginnings of domestic unrest in Syria in 2011, transboundary water relations have been pursued within the context of an unstable international security environment, particularly with the emergence of non-state armed groups who have used water as a weapon against their opponents.1 At the same time, however, cooperative mechanisms have also been initiated by riparian politicians, diplomats and water line ministries as well as informal and external actors. This article sets out to examine the various emerging actors and mechanisms operating in this context, arguing that their coexistence in the basin demonstrates a case of ‘imperfect peace’. The concept of ‘imperfect peace’ is used to acknowledge the fact that relations can be reinforced through peaceful interactions, negotiations, agreements, treaties and diplomacy at multiple levels, even in conditions that do not amount to war, but where violence is present.2With a specific focus on the ET river basin, the main objective of this article is to address policy-relevant research questions, such as how various actors and mechanisms operate within and influence transboundary water relations under the conditions of ‘imperfect peace’, and what kind of joint security mechanisms the riparian states should create to cope with violent non-state actors who control water and infrastructure. In reflecting on these questions, the article will analyse the strategic role that water plays in environmental peacebuilding and reflect on possible ways to improve the protection of water during and after armed conflicts.