After a Turkish reassurance to Iraq .. Satellites reveal a surprise in the Eliso dam
After a Turkish reassurance to Iraq .. Satellites reveal a surprise in the Eliso dam
2019/8/2 18:45
{International: Euphrates News} satellite images revealed a Turkish surprise in the dam of Ilesu on the mouth of the Tigris River, one of the tributaries of Iraq.
A Turkish parliamentarian and activists said Turkey had begun to fill a huge dam to generate power on the Tigris River despite protests that filling the reservoir would displace thousands in Turkey and threaten a shortage of water at the mouth of the river in Iraq.
The water began to gather behind the Elso dam, a project that has been in operation for decades and aims to generate 1,200 megawatts of electricity for southeast Turkey, they said, quoting satellite images.
Turkish officials did not comment on the work at the dam. The government agency responsible for dam projects referred the project’s questions to the Turkish presidency. No comment was available from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.
However, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier this year that his country would start filling the dam reservoir in June, a year after briefly holding water behind the dam. Turkey stopped water at that time after Iraqi complaints of low water flows in mid-summer.
The dam, approved for the first time by the Turkish government in 1997, is a key part of the southeast Anatolia project aimed at improving the situation of the country’s poorest and most underdeveloped region.
Iraq says the dam will lead to water scarcity because it will reduce flow in one of the two rivers on which most of its water is dependent. Iraq receives about 70 percent of its water supplies from neighboring countries, particularly through the Tigris and Euphrates through Turkey.
Njdet Ibekiouz, a deputy of the pro-Kurdish Democratic People’s Party, said satellite images from the past two weeks showed the dam had begun to hold water.
He said water had already flooded the area.
“They are taking slow steps to reduce reactions to water retention. That’s why they do not spread the information, “he said, adding that a number of PDP members had tried to visit the dam in July but had been blocked by the police.
A number of environmentalists have challenged the dam project before the European Court of Human Rights on the grounds that it would harm the country’s cultural heritage but failed to do so.
Wen is also expected to eventually submerge the town of Hassan Kiv, which dates back to 12,000 years, and the residents of the old town are being moved to the new town of Hassan Kiv, and the artifacts are being transported out of the town.
A group of non-governmental organizations, trade unions and members of parliament published satellite images showing the high level of water behind the dam between 19 and 29 July.
“The current situation reinforces the idea that the valves have been permanently closed,” the group, which calls itself coordinating, said in a statement.
“Because the dam lake is getting bigger every day, people living in these areas feel anxious. They can not know when water reaches their residential or agricultural areas. ”
The Iraqi government said in a statement that Iraqi and Turkish officials discussed the water resources of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Baghdad on Wednesday to see how the two countries’ interests could be achieved.
alforatnews.com
