Press Releases

This section lists all the statements, open letters and press releases published by Save the Tigris since 2012.

2022

  • Statement: Save the Tigris Launches New Report on Makhoul Dam (2 July 2022)
  • Statement: Building More Large Dams Threatens Southern Iraq and Increases Drought and Water Scarcity: No More False Solutions (15 April 2022)
  • Statement: Stop Water Wars! Do Not Weaponize Dams and Other Critical Infrastructure (30 March 2022)

2021

  • Message from Save the Tigris on World Environment Day (5 June 2021)
  • Letter From Save the Tigris to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre on Ashur, the Ahwar, and Makhoul Dam: Civil Society Concerns and Requests (20 May 2021)
  • Letter From Save the Tigris to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre on Fourth State of Conservation Report by the State Party of Iraq on the Ahwar: Civil Society Concerns and Requests (4 May 2021)
  • Message from Humat Dijlah and Save the Tigris on World Water Day (22 March 2021)
  • Statement: Water Projects Threaten the Lesser Zab! (5 March 2021)

2020

  • Announcement: Help to Raise £100.000 for Water Projects in Rojava! (19 May 2020)
  • Open Letter: Excavation, Documentation and Conservation of Cultural Heritage in Hasankeyf Must Continue (24 March 2020)
  • Letter from Save the Tigris to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Concerns and Requests regarding the Ahwar of Iraq (18 March 2020)

2019

  • Call for the Immediate Release of Two Activists!  (12 December 2019)
  • Statement: Water Must Not be Used as a Weapon of War: Refrain from Civilian and Environmental Harm in Northeast Syria! (12 October 2019)
  • Statement: Stop the Filling of Ilisu Dam! (29 July 2019)
  • Statement: A Message on Ilisu Dam from Iraqi Civil Society to the Turkish Government (10 July 2019)
  • Statement: UNESCO Should Address the Impacts of Upstream Dam Construction on the Ahwar of Iraq and Support Transboundary Water-Sharing Agreements (2 July 2019)
  • Declaration of the First Mesopotamian Water Forum: “Water is Under Assault in Mesopotamia” (17 April 2019)

2018

  • Statement: Environmental Threats, Lack of Water, Poor Job Opportunities and Declining Social Benefits Produce Massive Protests in Southern Iraq (21 July 2018)
  • Announcement: Arab Co-ordination Group Established Within World Heritage Watch (11 July 2018)
  • Statement: UNESCO Needs to Recognize the Upstream Dam Threats to the Iraqi Marshes – We Call to Work With Independent Civil Society (23 June 2018)
  • Statement: Impoundment of Ilisu Dam Reservoir Has Not Yet Started – Drought in Iraq Has Other Reasons (12 June 2018)
  • Announcement: New Report addresses pollution of the Tigris River in Baghdad (5 April 2018)
  • Statement: Postponement of Ilisu Dam Reservoir is not a Success! (31 January 2018)

2017

  • Statement: Equal Water Shares for the peoples of Iraq and Iran – A call for collaboration to preserve the shared rivers! (1 August 2017)
  • Statement: Protest against Bresser at its Dutch headquarters: Withdraw from relocation of Hasankeyf monuments (28 June 2017)
  • Statement: Fostering solidarity across borders to protect the shared rivers of Mesopotamia! (30 April 2017)

2016

  • Statement: Save the Tigris, Euphrates and Marshes from climate change and unsustainable water policies: a message to the COP22 (19 November 2016)
  • Statement: New Report Highlights the Disastrous Impact of Daryan Dam on Iraq (28 October 2016)
  • Statement: Call for Collaboration on the Implementation of UNESCO Recommendations for the Iraqi Marshes (22 September 2016)
  • Statement: A Great Achievement After 4 years of Campaigning: The Marshes of Iraq Inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage (20 July 2016)
  • Statement: Call for Action to Protect the Marshlands of Mesopotamia! (9 June 2016)

2015

  • Statement: The Threat of Ilisu Dam and the Failure of the Iraqi Government to Protect Iraqi’s Right to Water (29 September 2015)
  • Announcement: Shadow Report on Ilisu Dam’s Impacts on Human Rights in Iraq, and the Iraqi Government’s Failure to Act (8 September 2015)
  • Statement: List Hasankeyf and The Iraqi Marshes Now! Stop Ilisu Dam from Destroying World Heritage (23 June 2015)
  • Open Letter to the Iraqi Government, the Kurdistan Regional Government from Save the Tigris Campaign (12 May 2015)
  • Statement: The Mosul Dam and the Italian Role. What are the Risks? (20 January 2015)

2014

  • Statement: Water and its Infrastructure are not Weapons of War, Protect Civilians’ Right to Water in Iraq (15 July 2014)
  • Announcement: Policy Paper: Ilisu Dam and Legal Considerations in Iraq (2 April 2014)
  • Statement: Iraqi Marshes, Second Step towards the World Heritage (3 February 2014)

2013

  • Press Kit of Save the Tigris at the 1st Iraqi Social Forum (26 September 2013)
  • Statement: International Activists meet in Baghdad to Discuss Legal Strategies to Protect the Tigris River (26 September 2013)
  • Statement: Include Ilisu dam on the Meeting Agenda with Turkish Opposition Leader (20 August 2013)
  • Statement: The World Heritage Committee will be meeting in Cambodia: Iraq is a member, but the Iraqi marshes are not in the agenda! (26 July 2013)
  • Open Letter to Andritz: disastrous impacts of Ilisu Dam for Iraq (24 March 2013)

2012

  • Open Letter on the Impacts for Iraq of the Construction of the Ilisu Dam in Turkey (12 July 2012)
  • Announcement: The Tigris Declaration To Save Hasankeyf and Mesopotamian Marshes (28 May 2012)
  • Statement: Marsh Arabs Protest Ilisu Project in Hasankeyf (22 May 2012)