LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Euphrates River
built 118 days ago
Turkey and Syria, mainly over the waters of the Euphrates River, are in a serious escalation of hostilities, which could lead to an all-out conflict between the two nations. Turkey, with the completion of the GAP project, plans to fully utilize its share of the Euphrates river, which is the only reliable source of running water for Syria. Syria needs the waters of the Euphrates river to continue its irrigation programs and to keep the water levels high in the Assad Lake in order to sustain the hydroelectric production. Political status regarding this situation deteriorated rapidly during the 1980s, when Turkey finalized its plans for the GAP and began constructing it. Syria, worried about becoming totally dependent on Turkish control of the river, engaged in certain activities that targeted to create instability in Turkey.[30] Among those was supporting the PKK in its campaign against the Turkish government. As a response, Turkey decided to use the water issue as a bargaining point against Hafez Assad, which eventually backfired. The Syrian support of the PKK continued and Turkey acknowledged a deal with Syria, which promised a 500m3/s water to Syria in exchange of an end to Syrian support of the PKK.[31] Unfortunately, Assad one more time proved to be unreliable and the relations between the two countries deteriorated at a constant pace.
Source:
Babylon, located on the Euphrates River, was the capital of the Babylonian empire. The Babylonians conquered the southern kingdom of Judah, destroyed the original Temple at Jerusalem, and carried the people of Judah away into the Babylonian exile (2 Chronicles 36:15-20) (Why Babylon? and Temple Mount Treasures). They remained there until the Babylonian empire fell to the Persians (see Ancient Empires - Persia and Daniel's Statue), who allowed The Chosen People to return to the land of Israel (2 Chronicles 36:20-23)
Source:
The Euphrates River has a lot of significance in Bible Prophecy. Not only is it mentioned in Genesis as being one of the four rivers that proceeded out of the Garden of Eden, but it is ... identified in the Abrahamic Covenant as the northeastern boundary of the Promised Land. (Genesis 15:18 In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates) In I Chronicles chapter 18, the writer conveys that King David conquered Damascus and extended the Israeli kingdom all the way to the Euphrates River. But this extensive border was short-lived, and Israel gradually lost its northern expanse. Thus, Israel has never realized its promised kingdom. In fact, later, the Disciples inquired of Jesus after his resurrection, and witnessing many infallible proofs that he was the long awaited King of Israel, if he would then restore the kingdom unto Israel.
Source:
The Euphrates River, or the Furat in Arabic and Turkish, flows from its origins in Turkey through Syria and into Iraq. At the city of Al-Qurnah, it joins the Tigris River to form the Shatt Al-'Arab, which flows to the Persian Gulf and forms Iraq's southern border with Iran. The entire length of the Euphrates waterway is just under 3000 kilometers. Just as the waters of the Shatt Al-'Arab impact the politics of Iran and Iraq, the waters of the Euphrates impact the politics of the three nations who share the river. While the Euphrates River flows through the three countries, most of the water, about 88 percent, originates in Turkey, and the remainder from two rivers that enter the Euphrates in Syria. There is virtually no water added to the river in Iraq.
Source:
The Euphrates River water salinity (expressed as TDS), as it enters Iraq, has more than doubled compared to that of 1973. Downstream of Al Hindiah Barrage located south of Baghdad; the salinity has increased steadily over the last thirty years. The annual average TDS at Al Nassiriah has increased from 1080 ppm in 1979 to more than 4500 ppm in 2001. Water quality of the Euphrates deteriorated due to the decrease in quantity and the increase in salinity of the flow that is entering Iraq, and to flow diversions to the river from the Tharthar Lake and irrigation return-flow within Iraq. The decreased flow from Turkey and Syria is the primary cause of the alteration of water quality. Due to this flow diversion, water from Al Tharthar Lake and from irrigation return flow is being diverted to the Euphrates to compensate.
Source:
The water resources of the Euphrates River have been almost fully developed since the 1970s by construction of the large dams at Keban, Karakaya, Karababa/Ataturk, and Tabqa on the upper and middle reaches of the main stream. Eighty per cent was reached by adding the Ataturk dam in 1989.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Euphrates River