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19 May 2000 Letter to The Guardian
Dear Sir,The government has not cooled its support of the Ilisu Dam ('UK's £200m aid for Turkish dam stalled', May 17). DTI minister Steven Byers is still "minded" to grant a taxpayer-funded guarantee of Balfour Beatty's contract to build it.
The government this week made an implicit admission that it would be illegal to proceed with its support without Turkey having first consulted its downstream neighbours, Syria and Iraq. We welcome the admission. However, the government also made it clear that provided Turkey meet certain conditions - consultation with Syria and Iraq being one - the deal will be struck.
Turkey is unlikely properly to meet any of the conditions, but that doesn't mean the deal has stalled. Without continued public scrutiny, Turkey will pay lip service to the conditions, the UK will accept, and the deal will slip quietly through, as is both governments' wish, within the next six months or so.
There are grave issues surrounding the project. The Turkish State is terrorising the Kurdish people, of whom 25,000 are going to be displaced by the dam, and the impoundment of water from the Tigris could spark conflict between Turkey, Syria and Iraq. Steven Byers should withdraw British support for the Ilisu Dam project now.
Kate Geary,
Ilisu Dam Campaign,
ilisu@gn.apc.org