The Turkish Parliament is currently working on a new national water legislation, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Monday.

"We are preparing a water law in Parliament in order to reach our goals more quickly and prevent conflicts in water management," Erdoğan said in a speech given virtually to the opening ceremonies of five water-related projects in four cities.

"We see no essential difference between protecting our water and protecting our homeland," he said.

Erdoğan underlined that during nearly two decades in power, his government put into service "600 dams, 423 ponds, 590 hydroelectric power plants, 1,457 irrigation facilities and 262 drinking water facilities," representing a total investment of 277 billion liras ($31.9 billion).