ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Syrian state media on Thursday reported that at least 50 water stations along the Euphrates River have been flooded, coming after Turkey opened the spillway gates of its massive Ataturk Dam for the first time in seven years. 

Earlier this week, Turkey announced that it opened the spillway gates of the Ataturk Dam – the largest in the country – situated on the Euphrates River after seven years, citing “heavy rainfall in the region during the winter and spring months, which brought the dam close to full capacity.” 

As increased quantities of water began rushing downstream into Syria and Iraq, Syrian state TV on Thursday reported that “at least 50 out of 210 water stations are out of service after being flooded by the Euphrates River.” 

Raed al-Saleh, Syria’s minister of emergency and disaster management, announced that a “joint operations room” has been established in the Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor provinces to monitor the rising water levels. 

“So far, no casualties have been reported due to the river flooding,” Saleh said.

A Syrian dam official told the state-run SANA news agency that the Turkish side has been releasing approximately 2,000 cubic meters of water per second downstream, with “all spillway gates opened.” 

The construction of the Ataturk Dam, however, has exacerbated water scarcity problems in countries downstream, such as Iraq – an issue which Baghdad frequently attributes to Turkey’s upstream Ataturk Dam as well as the massive Ilisu dam on the Tigris River.