Erdogan inaugurates the Ilisu dam

Shafaq News/ The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inaugurated the Ilisu Prof. Veysel Eroglu Dam and Hydroelectric power plant (HEPP) in southeast Turkey earlier today, Sunday.

The Ilisu Dam is a concrete-face rock-fill dam on the Tigris river near the village of Ilısu and along the border of Mardin and Şırnak Provinces in Turkey. It is one of the 22 dams of the Southeastern Anatolia Project and its purpose is hydroelectric power production, flood control and water storage. When operational, the dam supports a 1,200 MW power station and forms a 10.4 billion m3 reservoir. Construction of the dam began in 2006 and was originally expected to be completed by 2016.

In a speech he delivered during the inauguration ceremony, Erdogan said, "We have to use our full potential in order to protect our country against food crisis, triggered by drought, and similarly against the increasingly more visible energy crisis."

"We cannot tolerate wasting even a drop of our country’s water resources. We must also maximize renewable energy production based on our own resources."

"The Ilısu project, which symbolizes peace, brotherhood, serenity, prosperity and power, is the largest one of the dams and HEPPs that we lined up on the Tigris River like a necklace."

The Turkish President highlighted the importance of the facility as "the world and Turkey face the risk of drought."

"We have to use our full potential in order to protect our country against food crisis, triggered by drought, and similarly against the increasingly more visible energy crisis."

"The dark picture, outlined by the scenarios regarding the future of the world, necessitate that we be ready for all possibilities," he concluded.