Turkey loses financing for controversial Ilisu dam project
Hurriyet Daily News with wires
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Austria,
"Despite some significant improvements, the requirements ... in the areas of the environment, cultural heritage and resettlement could not be fulfilled within the contractually stipulated timeframe," the three countries' export guarantee agencies said in a joint statement.
"As a result, there is no longer a basis for continuing the project with export risk insurance from the three countries, thus ending the export risk insurance cover."
The statement said that
The Ilisu project calls for the damming of the Tigris river and construction of a 1,200-megawatt power station as part of a $32 billion irrigation plan for impoverished provinces in
The project has come under intense criticism as it would mean that parts of Hasankeyf, a small and poor town on the banks of the Tigris that was once a mighty city in
Turkey reiterates commitment
The Turkish Environment Ministry criticized the decision, saying it is politicaly motivated. The decision of the three countries' institutions is not in line with expertise reports, the statement said.
"We, as the Republic of Turkey, would like to underline that our commitment to the project which is an important part of the Southeast Anatolia Project continues," the statement added.
Critics say the dam would have destroyed Hasankeyf’s unique heritage that includes Assyrian, Roman and Ottoman monuments, and displace an estimated 50,000 people.
The proposed credit for the Ilisu project is made up of 450 million euros ($627 million) in export-loan guarantees and 750 million euros in commercial loans, according to officials from Yuksel Insaat, a Turkish constructor involved in the work, Bloomberg said.