Ben-Eliezer with Turkish counterpart, Dr. Hilmi Guler
Photo: Yisrael Hadari
Turkey-Israel water pipe examined
Israel, Turkey looking into revising water agreement signed last year; Infrastructure Minister Ben-Eliezer holds meetings in Ankara on issue
National Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, who is currently visiting Turkey, said that "As part of the agreement to purchase water from Turkey, the parties will examine the possibility of building a water channel from Turkey to Israel, which is more profitable than a sea transport."
Ben-Eliezer met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Tuesday afternoon.
During his visit to Ankara, the minister brought up the issue of purchasing water from Turkey. The Turkish work teams said that Manavgat, the plant producing the undamaged water to be exported to Israel as part of the political agreement between the countries, is about to be privatized. Therefore, the Turks said, they believe the agreement will need to be revised.
In March 2004, Israel and Turkey signed a "political agreement" (rather than a commercial one,) according to which Israel will import 50 million cubic meters of drinking water per year from Turkey over a 20-year period.
Israel's Water Commission and the Turkish Water Authority (DSI) were tasked with the implementation of the agreement, and it was determined that the Turkish and Israeli governments would guarantee the commercial obligations undertaken by the commission and the Turkish authority.
Ben-Eliezer said that "Beyond the current agreement, we made it clear to the Turkish representatives that there is room to examine the possibility of building a water channel from Turkey to Israel, which is more profitable than a sea transport, but this would entail the Turks to assist in securing other clients, such as the Palestinian Authority, Jordan and Lebanon."
The water purchasing agreement did not set timetables and the water transporter has not been chosen yet. The agreement does not include a water price formula as well.
However, according to estimations, the water price in the Turkish loading facility will be around 13-18 cents per cubic meter. Adding the transport cost, the water price is expected to be approximately 70-80 cents per cubic meter. Thus, the price of one cubic meter of water may amount to approximately one dollar.
