Nationwide Protests against German Investment in Turkey's Ilisu Dam

(Bank Track, Berlin, 30 Nov. 2007) Kurdish groups and NGOs organized demonstrations outside local branches of the German Sparkasse (Savings Bank) and Deka Bank in eleven German towns today. The protests are targeting the two banks financial support of the controversial Ilisu dam in south-eastern Turkey that will submerge the ancient city of Hasankeyf. Deka Bank alone is underwriting construction of the hydropower project with more than 100 Million Euros. Three European Export Credit Agencies approved guarantees worth half a billion Euro at the end of March 2007. The ECAs tied 150 conditions to their approval which Turkey has not made legally binding.