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	Overview of the Problems
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Turkey

Background on Ilisu

Construction on the 1200MW Ilisu dam, the largest planned hydroelectric project in Turkey, is due to start in 2000 and is expected to take 7-8 years. Located on the Tigris river in Turkish Kurdistan, 65km upstream from the Syrian and Iraqi borders, the $2 billion project is part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Project (Turkish initials "GAP"). GAP is a $32 billion infrastructure development program that envisages the construction of 22 dams and 19 power plants on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and their tributaries.

Originally planned as a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) scheme, the project failed to find a bidder. Subsequently, the Turkish Ministry of Energy opted to go ahead on its own account, awarding the contract to a consortium led by Sulzer Hydro (Switzerland). Construction has been subcontracted to a further consortium made up of, among others, Balfour Beatty, Impregilo, Skanska and the Turkish companies, Nurol, Kiska and Tekfen. ABB Power Generation and Sulzer Hydro will supply the generating equipment.

ECA Involvement

The Union Bank of Switzerland is arranging finance. Export credits and investment insurance guarantees are now being sought by the construction consortium from the export credit agencies (ECAs) of Austria, Germany, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US. Coordinated by the Swiss Exportriskogarantie, the ECAs are presently negotiating a "common position" on Ilisu. Switzerland has already given its conditional approval for an ECA-backed guarantee of 470 million Swiss francs for the equipment to be supplied by ABB Power Generation and Sulzer Hydro. Balfour Beatty is seeking a £200 million export credit for the project from the UK Export Credits Guarantee Department. The UK Trade Secretary Stephen Byers announced on December 22nd 1999 that he was "minded" to provide conditional support for the credit. The dam is opposed, however, by the Foreign Office - and there are reliable reports that the export credit is being forced through by Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Two Critical Reports- A Disaster in the Making...

The UK decision comes despite two reports, commissioned by the government, which are damning of the project. They make it clear that local people are against the dam, that no consultation has taken place with them, that no resettlement plan exists, that serious doubts hang over compensation, and that major environmental impacts have yet to be addressed.

2000
by Nick Hildyard, Cornerhouse

Ilisu Dam Page