Ankara city hall says water cuts due to ‘record drought’

ANKARA - Water cuts for the past several weeks in Turkey’s capital were due to the worst drought in 50 years and an exploding population, a municipal official told AFP, rejecting accusations of mismanagement.

Dam reservoir levels have dropped to 1.12 per cent and taps are being shut off for several hours a day in certain districts on a rotating schedule in Ankara, forcing many residents to line up at public fountains to fill pitchers.

“2025 was a record year in terms of drought. The amount of water feeding the dams fell to historically low levels, to 182 million cubic m in 2025, compared with 400 to 600 million cubic m in previous years. This is the driest period in the last 50 years,” said Mr Memduh Akcay, director general of the Ankara municipal water authority.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called the Ankara municipal authorities, led by the main opposition party, “incompetent”.

Rejecting this criticism, the city hall says Ankara is suffering from the effects of climate change and a growing population, which has doubled since the 1990s to nearly six million inhabitants.

“In addition to reduced precipitation, the irregularity of rainfall patterns, the decline in snowfall, and the rapid conversion of precipitation into runoff (due to urbanisation) prevent the dams from refilling effectively,” Mr Akcay said.

A new pumping system drawing water from below the required level in dams will ensure no water cuts during the weekend of Jan 10 and Jan 11, Ankara’s city hall said, but added that the problem would persist in the absence of sufficient rainfall.

Much of Turkey experienced a historic drought in 2025. The municipality of Izmir, the country’s third-largest city on the Aegean coast, has imposed daily water cuts since last summer. AFP