Turkey starts Cyprus water supply project

ANAMUR - Anatolia News Agency

Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay (L) inspects one of the waterpipes that will carry water from the southern Turkish province of Mersin to Turkish Cyprus. AA photo

A groundbreaking ceremony was held in southern province of Mersin for the Turkish Cyprus Water Supply Project on Oct. 13.

Work on the project that foresees 75 million cubic meters of water being transferred from Turkey to Turkish Cyprus is continuing simultaneously in both countries.

The project is an international water diversion project designed to supply water for drinking and irrigation from southern Turkey to Turkish Cyprus via a pipeline under Mediterranean Sea. The project will be carried out by the Turkish State Hydraulic Works (DSİ). It consists of the construction of a dam and a pumping station at each on both sides, as well as a pipeline of 107 km running mainly under the sea.

The project will be completed in 2014

Water will be carried to Geçikköy Dam in Turkish Cyprus via an 80-kilometer pipeline, 250 meters underwater. The water pipeline project is planned to be completed by March 14, 2014. The estimated cost of the project is 1.1 billion Turkish Liras.

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay, Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Irsen Küçük, Turkish Cypriot Economy and Energy Minister Sunat Atun and other officials attended the ceremony.

The project is expected to be completed on March 7, 2014. Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, Atalay said that they took another important step today for the project of the century and that Turkey would continue to assist Turkish Cypriots.

The water project will be followed by another project to transmit electricity to Turkish Cyprus via underwater cables, Atalay said. “We intend to complete the electricity-transmission project at about the same time as the water project,” he said.