Cablegate: Turkey Trans-Boundary Water and Ilisu Dam
VZCZCXRO7425
RR RUEHAST
DE RUEHAK #3691/01 1731405
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 221405Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6790
INFO RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC
RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHZN/EST COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 003691
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
E.O. 12958:N/A
TAGS: ENGR SENV EAGR TU IZ
SUBJECT: TURKEY TRANS-BOUNDARY WATER AND ILISU DAM
REF: ANKARA 3324
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1. (SBU) Summary: Turkey's DSI (State Hydraulic Works) provided
additional information on the May 24 bilateral meeting in Ankara
with Iraq (ref), characterizing it as a productive exchange of
information, but disappointing in not covering new ground. Turkey
is set on building the Ilisu Dam on the Tigris as completing its GAP
(South-east Anatolia) project; DSI said symbolic ground-breaking
would be in July. A German (Siemens)-Austrian-Swiss consortium is
looking seriously at the project whose financing would depend on
approval by the three export credit agencies. Cooperation with
neighboring countries on water basin management will be part of the
water (environment) EU acquis. End Summary.
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More on Historic May 24 Bilat
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2. (SBU) Cross-border cooperation on water issues and Turkey's
recent announcement of ground-breaking for the Ilisu dam have been
the topic of recent meetings with officials from DSI (State
Hydraulic Works), the EU Commission office in Turkey, and the
Austrian Commercial Office. Referring to the May 24 Turkey-Iraq
bilateral meeting in Ankara on water (ref), DSI Deputy Planning
Department Head Canse Akkaya, was pessimistic about future water
cooperation with Iraq or Syria. She stated that Turkey views the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers as "trans-boundary", rather than
"shared" resources. Akkaya complained that Iraq and Syria have
often lobbied unfairly against Turkey's planned water management
projects, such as the Ilisu dam. Although Akkaya stated that
continued meetings could be beneficial to both countries, with the
current security problems in Iraq, she did not feel that a solution
to the trans-national water problems is likely in the near future.
3. (SBU) Akkaya also stated that the meetings did not cover new
ground, rather they just rehashed the same issues from previous
meetings, with no new trans-boundary information exchanged between
the two countries. Although the meeting may have been generally
beneficial, each country was still independently pursuing its own
projects and interests, she asserted. However, she stated that all
three countries should try and find a common denominator for
cooperation, which calls for transparency about available resources
and limitations. Akkaya also questioned Iraq's ability to collect
and provide accurate hydrological data given the current security
problems there. Planning Department Head Yalcin Dikmen echoed
similar views and went into further detail about problems in Iraq.
He described several water management problems which had been
brought up during the meeting, including the problem of revitalizing
the marshlands, and various irrigation issues.
4. (SBU) Akkaya claimed that Turkey's topography is more suitable
for dam building than the topography of either of the other two
riparian countries. She stressed that stable hydrological and
meteorological data was still needed from Iraq. Akkaya felt Iraq
had still not given sufficient information in response to Turkish
requests. This was in violation of the idea of reciprocity of
information sharing, with the view that Iraq was asking for more
information than it is providing. Dikmen articulated Turkey's
standard position that Turkey is eager and willing to see these
meetings continue and to continue to exchange information.
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EU Expects Trans-Boundary Water Planning
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5. (SBU) In a separate meeting, Gurdogar Sarigul, Manager of the
Environmental and Sustainable Development sector at the EU
Commission Office in Ankara, brought up the lack of cooperation on
water between Turkey and its downstream neighbors. Sarigul stressed
that Turkey would have to start thinking about these issues if it
wants to proceed in membership negations, noting that EU acquis
requires members to coordinate water basin plans with neighbors.
Sarigul admitted that the requirement was less strict for non-EU
neighbors but said that such practices would ultimately be
necessary. The EC rep observed that Turkey and its downstream
neighbors were not showing sufficient concern for the environmental
impacts of their water management projects. He brought up the
problems with pollution from Bulgaria and Greece affecting the
downstream flows of the Evroz river in Turkey and said the
sentiments of these countries is similar to Turkey's attitude
regarding its downstream neighbors of Iraq and Syria.
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Full Speed Ahead on Ilisu Dam
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6. (SBU) Similarly to an earlier meeting with the Turkish MFA, DSI
articulated Turkey's commitment to moving forward on the Ilisu Dam
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on the Tigris to completed the GAP (South-east Anatolia) project.
Akkaya said the groundbreaking ceremony for Ilisu would be postponed
to July, instead of the June date with the Prime Minister reported
in the press. She said the project will be financed by Austrian
firm VA Tech with some financing coming from Turkish sources.
Akkaya also asserted that the Center for Research and Assessment of
Historic Environment (TACDAM) at Middle East Technical University
(METU) has prepared a full report detailing protection of the
archaelogical aspects of Hasankeyf for DSI.
7. (SBU) Sarigul also confirmed that VA Tech was still planning on
financing the Ilisu dam project. He mentioned that an initial EIAR
(Enviromental Impact Assessment Report) was being reassessed by VA
Tech, under pressure from the EU for Austrian compliance on
environmental matters. Sarigul noted that VA Tech would be
technically responsible for following EU directives, also depending
on source of funds. Institutions such as World Bank, EBRD, and ADF
have all agreed that any projects financed by them must comply with
EU environmental requirements, but the World Bank is generally not
willing to fund large dam projects. The current EIAR for the Ilisu
project is still not up to EU environmental standards, according to
NGO's. For example, a Birdlife International local rep shared his
organization's criticism of treatment of endangered waterfowl.
8. (SBU) Austrian commercial counselor, Richard Bandera, also
confirmed Turkey's readiness and determination to move forward with
the Ilisu dam project. He said that the German
(Siemens)-Austrian-Swiss consortium was seeking necessary financial
backing from the three export credit agencies. Bandera noted that
the consortium and export credit financing would only move forward
if international environment, archeological, and human rights
standards were assured. He noted that the current project would
assure water treatment and protection to archeological sites.
Bandera noted that, given Turkey's determination to move forward, if
the European consortium was not successful, Turkey would likely
pursue less responsible avenues such as Russian or Chinese support.
Bandera stated that DSI had given a briefing about the Ilisu dam
project to Syria and Iraq some months earlier and he was expecting
feed-back shortly. Bandera asserted that Turkey could present a
good news story about Ilisu to its downstream neighbors based on
cleaner and more regular water flow. He admitted that Turkey still
had some work to do to assure adequate mechanism for paying
compensation under the Resettlement Plan before the export credit
agencies would sign on to the project.
Wilson