Hirayama Ikuo said,"Originating in Turkey, the Tigris River flows across Iraq into the Persian Gulf. The Euphrates River crosses Syria from Turkey and joins the Tigris River near the estuary. The area between the two rivers is called Mesopotamia. This is the birthplace of ancient Mesopotamian civilization, one of the oldest civilizations in the world. On New Year's Day in 1971, I was in Qurna of Iraq, the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. The two great rivers that gave birth to the great civilization of ancient times converged here as Arab River running into the Persian Gulf.