Prof. Dr. Abdulvahap kara
Efforts to save the Aral Sea, which constitutes one of the world’s biggest ecological disasters, continue.
Kazakhstan took over the presidency of the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea (IFAS), which has increased its activities in this regard in recent years. As of January 2024. Kazakhstan will fulfill this duty for a period of three years.
There is a lot of work to be done for Kazakhstan in these three years, and Kazakhstan seems willing and determined to contribute to the activities to save the Aral Sea. For this reason, it is hoped that important successes can be achieved during the term of presidency of Kazakhstan, which has a high economic and development level in Central Asia.
Tajikistan was the last chairman of the International Aral Sea Recovery Fund (IFAS), which was established in 1993 by the presidents of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to take measures against environmental disasters and improve the socioeconomic situation in the Aral Sea basin.
At the Council of Heads of State meeting of the Founding Countries of the International Aral Sea Recovery Fund held in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, on September 15, 2023, it was emphasized that comprehensive studies were carried out to improve the water, environment and socioeconomic situation in the Aral Sea basin. At the meeting, issues such as water problems in the region, climate change and melting of glaciers were discussed, and it was decided that the term of presidency of the Council of Heads of State of the Founding Countries of the International Aral Sea Recovery Fund would pass to Kazakhstan as of 2024.
The activities of the Aral Sea Recovery Fund are currently monitored and supported by the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and environmental protection non-governmental organizations in Europe and Asia.
The main goal of the fund is to improve environmental and social conditions by aiming to solve the problems of the Aral Sea and to support the implementation of projects in the fields of water, environment and socioeconomic. IFAS addresses the issue jointly, in cooperation with investors.
The latest initiative of the President of Kazakhstan Kasım Jomert Tokayev to establish a new Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation in Kazakhstan is considered as a contributing step to the efforts to save the Aral Sea. The President of Kazakhstan announced the establishment of the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation in his annual address to the people of Kazakhstan in September last year. This development was welcomed by experts who have been talking about the necessity of measures regarding water use for many years.
Tokayev’s effort to establish a new Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation in Kazakhstan has a number of positive elements for the targeted solution of water sharing problems between countries and cooperation on the IFAS platform. Taking into account the interests of IFAS members, determining the rules for the use of rivers flowing into the Aral Sea and creating a common, unified water use regulation for all countries could be an important step towards a solution.
As the country that chairs the International Fund for the Recovery of the Aral Sea, the Ministry of Water Resources of Kazakhstan can undertake the task of creating a legal framework for this. The adoption of such a basic document will make a significant contribution to strengthening cooperation between Central Asian countries in the field of water resources management.
In order to find a solution to the problems of the Aral Sea, the leaders of the IFAS states are trying to act together and create a common solution platform. Regardless of the nature of neighborly relations, the five states always have the will to come together and find a common solution when it comes to the ecological situation of the Aral Sea. From this perspective, IFAS is unique in that it is the only institutional organization that has brought together the five Central Asian countries for 30 years.
In the context of the impending general water resource deficit, it is inevitable that this challenging problem will be addressed and acknowledged in the search for a common solution. Realization of this fact created an incentive for the presidents of the Central Asian countries to instruct the Fund to quickly develop and complete its organizational structure. This means that effective work will be carried out within the relevant regional Working Group. This process requires a complex and lengthy study, including a detailed and systematic examination of the experiences of organizations in other cross-border basins and an effort to create a model suitable for the uniqueness of the Aral Sea basin.
In my opinion, the true potential of the International Aral Sea Recovery Fund is still untapped. Of course, the role and importance of IFAS will become even more evident in the face of global developments, including ecological changes around the world.
Kazakhstan’s term of leadership and determined stance can significantly increase both the authority and effectiveness of the Fund, to the benefit of not only Central Asia but also the entire Asian region.
/// nCa, 22 January 2024 [Originally published by Once-Vatan in Turkish on 13 January 2024]