For many years, negotiations between Turkey and Syria over the Orontes or Asi River were linked to issues concerning the Euphrates and Tigris rivers shared between Turkey, Syria and Iraq, and progress of the former was dependent on progress of the latter

The length of the river is open to discussion. Depending on the source consulted, this ranges from 248km to 556km. Rainfall in the basin is about 644mm annually. The average temperature is around 16°C. The climate is semi-arid to arid in Lebanon, with annual rainfall of about 400mm

The annual amount of water used in Syria is about 15BCM. This comes from the Euphrates (50 per cent) and the Asi River basins (20 per cent). Of the water usage from the Asi River, 2,230MCM are used for irrigation, 320MCM for domestic purposes and 270MCM for industrial purposes. The total amount of water withdrawn from the Asi River is 2,730MCM

Turkey-Syria Relations were affected throughout the Cold War era and into the 1990s. The water issue became a foreign relations matter once again when both countries began using the waters of the Euphrates-Tigris basin in the 1960s and building irrigation and energy-related projects.

The foundation stone of the dam was laid on 6 February 2011. On completion, the dam is expected to be 22.50 m high, with a capacity of 110MCM. Of that, 40MCM will be used for flood prevention and the rest for energy production, and irrigation (around 9,000 hectares of agricultural land).

The Euphrates-Tigris basin is among the most important river basins in Turkey and in the Middle East. The average annual discharge of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers is 84 billion m3, which equals to the average annual flow of the Nile River. Euphrates provides 90 per cent of water, whose average annual flow is 32 billion m3, from Turkey.