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10Feb

UPCOMING EVENT: Hydraulic mission accomplished? Water infrastructure, policy and scarcity in Türkiye

Hosted by Contemporary Turkish Studies at LSE and the British Institute at Ankara (BIAA)
In-person and online public event (MAR.2.06, Marshall Building, LSE)
Tuesday 10 February 2026 6.30pm - 7.30pm

This panel features a conversation between two scholars on the past, present, and future of water infrastructure, policy, and scarcity in Türkiye, exploring these issues through the contested idea of a national ‘hydraulic mission.’

Organised around the question of whether a national ‘hydraulic mission’ can be considered complete, the panel reflects on how water infrastructure and policy have shaped state priorities, social relations, and environmental outcomes over time. It revisits the ambitions behind major dams, irrigation schemes, and urban water systems in Türkiye, situating them within broader projects of development, modernisation, and technopolitical governance. By foregrounding historical trajectories, the conversation highlights how past decisions continue to influence present-day water challenges.

The panel also addresses current and future concerns, including water scarcity, climate change, and ecological degradation, as well as uneven access to water across regions and communities in Türkiye. Key questions include:

  • How does water policy intersect with agriculture, energy production, urban growth, and transboundary dynamics?
  • What do these intersections reveal about the limits of existing approaches to water management?
  • What are the possible directions for more sustainable, resilient, and equitable water futures in Türkiye?

Rather than presenting fixed conclusions, the event is designed as an open, conversational exchange that encourages critical reflection and dialogue with the audience on how water issues might be rethought under conditions of increasing uncertainty, with lessons beyond the Turkish context.

Meet our speakers and chair

Dr Arda Bilgen is a Research Officer at the LSE Middle East Centre, where he co-leads the Kuwait Programme project ‘Water Security in Kuwait: Exploring a Water Citizenship Approach to Sustainable Water Futures.’ Prior to that, he worked on the PeaceRep project ‘Surface Water Changes in the Euphrates-Tigris Basin since 1984 and their Governance Implications for Iraq.’ Dr Bilgen’s work mainly focuses on global water governance, transboundary water politics, national water infrastructure policies, and local experiences of water insecurity. His research has been published in several leading journals, including the British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Canadian Journal of Development Studies, Geoforum, International Journal of Water Resources Development, New Perspectives on Turkey, and Qualitative Research.

Professor Jim Crow is Professor Emeritus of Roman and Byzantine Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh and visiting professor at Newcastle University. He studied at Birmingham, Newcastle and Sofia Universities. Currently, he serves as the Chair of the British Institute at Ankara (BIAA). Until 2023, he was the co-investigator of a project on ‘Water in Istanbul, rising to the challenge’, contrasting water management between the Byzantine/early Ottoman and contemporary city. His extensive publications include the Guidebook to Housesteads, two books on Hadrian’s Wall, a monograph on the water supply of Constantinople, and an edited volume on Byzantine Naxos and the Aegean. His numerous articles cover frontiers, fortifications, hydraulic infrastructure and landscape archaeology in the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea.

Yaprak Gürsoy (@ygursoy), Professor of European Politics and Chair in Contemporary Turkish Studies, European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).

Attendees are warmly invited to attend the event reception, which will follow the event.

More about this event

Contemporary Turkish Studies focuses on the politics and economy of Türkiye and its relations with the rest of Europe. The programme aims to promote a deeper understanding of contemporary Türkiye through interdisciplinary and critical research, teaching and related public activities.

The British Institute at Ankara (BIAA) was founded in 1947 and incorporated in the 1956 cultural agreement between the Republic of Türkiye and the United Kingdom. It is internationally renowned for conducting world-class research in Türkiye and the Black Sea region in the humanities and social sciences.

Hashtag for this event: #LSETürkiye

*Photo Credit: BIAA-DHF_AF_385

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