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Statement of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany

5 March 2008

1. Introduction

After completing their first site visit as a group to the region in which the hydro-electric power plant Ilisu in Turkey is planned to be built, a committee of independent international and national experts has now presented three reports. The Federal Government had granted an export credit guarantee for the German portion of deliveries for this project. Cover was given on the condition that Turkey gave an undertaking to comply with stringent international standards of environmental protection, conservation of the cultural heritage and protection of the affected people (World Bank standards). A series of measures in this context were agreed with Turkey, some of which will need to be taken prior to commencement of the actual construction work.

The main focus of the ten-day site visit made by the experts at the beginning of December 2007 was to examine the progress of the measures agreed upon. The reports incorporated both interviews with the local population, particularly in the dam construction area, and also with the authorities concerned in implementing the measures. Initial urgent recommendations for action from the experts in order to secure the implementation of the project as agreed were already presented verbally at the end of the site visit. These recommendations were already subject of discussions between the governments of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, and the Turkish side on ministerial level. The Turkish government affirmed once again the significance of the project for Turkey as well as their determination to fulfil the undertakings they have agreed to.

The committee found a number of considerable deficiencies in each of the three fields covered by the experts - cultural heritage, resettlement and ecology - and suggested ways of remedying them.

All three reports draw the conclusion that an institution guiding the implementation of the agreed measures and engaging highly qualified staff with full time dedication to the project needs to be installed urgently. In January 2008 the Turkish government set up such an institution - Project Implementation Unit / PIU - according to the recommendations of the experts.

2. The contents of the reports in detail

Cultural heritage

For the cultural experts the site visit was primarily intended as a fact-finding mission to gather information as to the exact extent of the area to be covered by the reservoir, on current studies of the cultural heritage as well as the status of the archaeological research at the historical village of Hasankeyf. In addition, it was intended to make a start on their own initial evaluation of the state of preservation of the monuments. In their report, the experts note above all a lack of information on the part of the authorities responsible for implementing the agreed measures. The experts gave, among others, the following recommendations:

  • In order to obtain a comprehensive picture of the cultural heritage in the region, all available information and reports on the completed and ongoing excavations should be made available to the committee of experts.
  • Further archaeological and historical investigation of the dam construction area as well as an ethnographic study of the present-day way of life of its inhabitants, should be begun at once.
  • A project plan concerning measures for excavation and conservation, to be drawn up as soon as possible, should establish the priorities.

The cultural heritage experts made detailed comments on the measures agreed and further specified them, in some cases breaking them down into individual measures. In addition to this, they have offered their continuing support at various points. This means that even more clearly-defined recommendations for action to implement the measures are now available to the PIU.

Resettlement

The site visit of the resettlement experts was primarily intended to review progress in fulfilling the so-called Terms of Reference (ToRs). A further central intention of the experts was to verify compliance of the expropriations already carried out in 2007 by the Turkish side in six villages near the construction area with the agreed World Bank standards. On top of this, interviews were to be held with the village communities resettled in the first phase of the project. The report on resettlement contains a comprehensive account of the current situation on the ground. It shows that only a few of the measures agreed to be done at this stage have actually been fulfilled, or that the targets aimed at by the measures have not yet been achieved. The resettlement experts therefore expressed a number of recommendations for action, e.g.:

  • The complex task of resettlement, which is to be carried out for the first time in Turkey according to World Bank standards, requires the rapid installation, with the support of the international experts, of institutional capacity and a profound knowledge of the assumptions underlying the project.
  • The measures already implemented to compensate those affected people must be increased to the level stipulated by the World Bank standards. It is even more important however to focus in future not only on the amount of compensation provided, but on measures worked out together with the affected people in the construction area to achieve full restitution or improvement of their livelihood.
  • An alternative area of settlement was identified in the vicinity of "Ilisu Village" which meets with the acceptance of the inhabitants due for resettlement. It was requested to incorporate this into the resettlement plan drawn up by the authorities.

Environment

The report by the environmental experts is divided into the two fields water quality/plants for waste water treatment and biodiversity/environmental management.

The goal of the site visit in the water quality field was, among other things, to evaluate the existing waste water treatment plants in the region and to gather information about those planned as well as about potential sources of pollution. On the biodiversity topic, the experts wanted to gain a first impression of the diversity of species present in the region and of the impact on these from the construction of the dam, as well as, based on this, to hold discussions with the PIU on the most urgent measures to be taken. The environmental experts had the following findings:

  • Progress in planning and building the three waste water treatment plants in the project area lags behind the originally agreed schedule.
  • Studies on biodiversity, flora and fauna as well as fish stocks are put out to tender by the PIU. The tender procedure and awarding the contract must be done at once. It is crucial that the studies should be initiated quickly, so that a survey can be carried out before construction work starts.
  • The environmental management plans for the individual phases of construction and building activities must be drawn up without delay and submitted to the CoE.

The environmental experts offer their support in the implementation of these measures. As regards the biodiversity study and that of the fish stocks as well as the measures for health care, speed is absolutely of the essence and measures should be implemented immediately.

3. Summary

The detailed reports on cultural heritage, resettlement and the environment reveal deficiencies in the implementation of the measures, but provide a good basis of recommendations for the PIU as to how the deficiencies found can be remedied with the support of the experts. In the cultural and environmental fields it has become clear that all the investigations and studies must be begun as soon as possible and that the existing documentation needs to be considerably expanded. As regards resettlement, the move away from the previous practice of financial compensation towards the principle of restitution of the livelihood according to World Bank standards still awaits realization. A crucial aspect here is the intensive involvement of the population in the construction area in any further steps, since it is only in this way that the knowledge necessary to ensure the preservation or improvement of the living conditions of these people can be gained.

The PIU is now called upon to implement as swiftly as possible the recommendations of the experts as well as the agreed measures. The continuing participation of the experts in an intensive consultation process with the Turkish side seems indispensable in this context.

A first success achieved by means of such consultation with the experts is the appointment of the implementation unit (PIU) by the Turkish government in January 2008. All ministries and authorities involved as well as representatives from the population of the region are now represented in this unit.

A start has also been made on further measures such as, e.g. a field study by the University of Kocaeli on the cultural heritage and a further increase in the capacity stationed locally by the PIU in connection with the resettlement activities.

The next review of project progress as well as the follow-up of the implementation of the experts' recommendations is already due in March/April 2008. In this, the primary object, besides discussions with the newly appointed members of the PIU, will be to draw up a new time schedule for the project to enable the Turkish side still to fulfil their contractual commitments. This should stipulate the time horizon for implementation of the measures recommended by the experts prior to the commencement of construction work.

See Press Information Ilisu, too.

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