Abstract
The chapter explores reforms of Turkey’s environmental, expropriation and resettlement policies as well as the influence of domestic and external actors on dam-related legislation and practices, in particular on the Ataturk and Birecik dams on the Euphrates River, the Ilisu Dam on the Tigris River, the Ermenek Dam on the Goksu River and the Yusufeli Dam on the Coruh River—all of which were built in different periods and under varied political and economic circumstances. The analysis starts with an overview of the strategic role of hydropower in the economic development plans and renewable energy policy of the Turkish government. The chapter singles out two issue areas—environmental impact assessment and expropriation/resettlement—in order to examine legal changes and practices as well as the reasons therein in the context of political developments. Turkey’s aspiration to become a full member of the European Union has influenced its environmental policy; reforms related to expropriation and resettlement have mainly been driven by domestic politics.
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Notes
- 1.
In non-OECD countries, hydroelectric power is the predominant source of growth for renewable electricity. Strong growth in hydroelectric generation is expected in China, India, Brazil and in a number of nations in South-east Asia, including Malaysia and Vietnam (US Energy Information Administration 2013).
- 2.
http://www.enerji.gov.tr/index.php?dil=tr&sf=webpages&b=hidrolik&bn=232&hn=&nm=384&id=40699. Accessed 27 August 2013.
- 3.
Besides, the Energy Efficiency Law (No. 5627) of 2007 aims at increasing the efficient use of energy in order to ease the burden of energy costs on the national economy. It covers principles and procedures applicable to increasing and promoting energy efficiency in industry, power generation, transmission and distribution systems, buildings and transport (World Resources Institute 2009).
- 4.
According to the Turkish Constitution of 1982, water resources are vested in the state domain, and only the government can transfer/assign user rights. These transfers have inadequately been coined as “selling the rivers”. Issues related to the transfer of water-use rights are how existing user rights are dealt with; the duration of the use-contracts and whether the state maintains control over private activities (see Baskan 2011).
- 5.
DSI/EIE Projelerinde Istenecek (On) Fizibilite Raporunda Yer Alacak Ana Basliklar, Bolum -7. Cevresel Etkiler (Genel).
- 6.
A review of the 75 EIAs issued between December 1993 and March 2010 shows that the Ministry of Environment had not given environmental clearance to only one project, that is, the Beskonak Dam on the Koprucay River, because the dam was to be located in the Koprulu Canyon National Park. The project did not take off.
- 7.
Online at: http://www.iaia.org/about/. Accessed 20 August 2013.
- 8.
Annex I (15.): “Dams and other installations designed for the holding back or permanent storage of water, where a new or additional amount of water held back or stored exceeds 10 million cubic metres.” Annex II (g): “Dams and other installations designed to hold water or store it on a long-term basis (projects not included in Annex I)”; http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eia/full-legal-text/9711.htm. Accessed 24 March 2010.
- 9.
Danistay is the highest administrative court, whose rulings are final in the sense that there is no other institution to appeal to.
- 10.
This was also as a reaction to the ongoing Ilisu Dam disputes.
- 11.
According to the Istanbul Water Tribunal (2009), an EIA was not issued.
- 12.
Article 5: The first sentence of paragraph three of Article 8 of Law No 5346 is amended as follows, and the following paragraphs are added to follow the article: “Permission shall be granted for the establishment of electrical energy production facilities based on Renewable Energy Resources in national parks, nature parks, nature monumental and nature preservation sites, preservation forests, wildlife promotion sites, and special environmental preservation site provided that an affirmative opinion of the Ministry, or of the regional conservatory board in the case of natural conservation areas, is obtained” (original translation) (http://www.invest.gov.tr/en…/RENEWABLE.ENERGY.pdf . Accessed 26 August 2013).
- 13.
The protest started on 28 May 2013 and initially contested the urban development plan for Istanbul’s Taksim Gezi Park but later addressed a wide range of concerns such as freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and what was perceived as the government’s encroachment on Turkey’s secularism.
- 14.
Although Turkey has not yet signed the Aarhus Convention, the National Programme for the Adoption of the acquis envisioned improving access to environmental information in order to align with this convention (SPO 2001, 403ff.). As amended, Art. 30 of Environment Law No. 2872 meets the criteria of Art. 9 of the Aarhus Convention on the right to access environmental information; the Right to Information Act, which came into force in April 2004, “seems to give more room for environmental NGOs […]” (Izci 2005, p. 96). The revised EIA Directive of 2013 further rules that information brochures, surveys and public meetings have to be issued.
- 15.
TSKB holds the leadership in financing renewable energy projects—it has financed 65 hydroelectricity projects with a total capacity of 2,150 MW (PWC 2012, p. 17).
- 16.
The Karakaya Dam on the Euphrates River (1986) was the last dam co-financed by the World Bank. The Bank considered financing the Kayraktepe Dam on the main stem of the Goksu River but declined.
- 17.
http://www.oekb.at/de/unternehmen/Presse/pressetexte/Seiten/070709-ausstieg-ilisu.aspx. Accessed 8 April 2010. Agreed minutes between OEKO, Euler Hermes, Exportrisikogarantie and GD Devlet Su Isleri, 6 October 2006.
- 18.
Data are not available after 2005.
- 19.
The new ruling falls considerably behind practices that were implemented in the mid-1970s, when the first dam on the Euphrates River, the Keban Dam, was planned and built. During the 1970s, policies were aimed at recovering—and even improving—the living standards of the people that had to be resettled (Scheumann and Irmak 1991).
- 20.
Turkish citizens frequently contact their respective parliamentarians. A high number of citizens travel to the capital Ankara to get an appointment with their parliamentarian—the numbers of visitors in parliament total 3,000 per day; http://www.haberturk.com/gundem/haber/665165-tbmmye-2-milyon-184-bin-ziyaret. Accessed 18 September 2013.
- 21.
http://www.erdem-erdem.av.tr/erdem-erdem.php?katid=12110&id=15139&main_kat=15132. Accessed 24 August 2013.
- 22.
See for instance: The Resolution of the Council of Ministers dated 09.11.2012 on the Urgent Expropriation of Immovable Property by the Energy Market Regulatory Authority on behalf of the Treasury for the establishment of Bedirduzu-2 Hydroelectric Electricity Plant in Erzincan, Cayirli district, published in the Official Gazette dated 06 Dec. 2012 and numbered 28489. For more examples see: http://www.erdem-erdem.av.tr/erdem-erdem.php?katid=12110&id=15139&main_kat=15132. Accessed 20 September 2013.
- 23.
Resettlement Action Plans aim at minimising socio-economic effects of projects on the affected people through a fast reestablishment of their individual productivity and their communities’ social structures. Resettlement Action Plans comprise measures that aim at enhancing coordination of governmental institutions, to increase participation of people affected and to ensure that expropriation and resettlement plans match the pace of the construction works.
- 24.
Market value is the value an asset owner would get if he/she sold his/her asset in a competitive market; replacement value refers to the amount that one would have to pay to build new assets.
- 25.
In the case of ongoing resistance against a coal power plant near the city of Gerze, it was even reported that the strategy of opponents was to prevent a company from completing the EIA in order to stop the project.
- 26.
Talking in the name of representatives of more than 50 rivers, Lawyer Yakup Okumusoglu, a member of the Turkish Water Assembly said: “Nature of Turkey is facing an ecocide that has been never experienced in its history. The main cause of this unacceptable situation is that the rivers and streams which give life to our land have become subjects of epidemic HEPP and dam projects. More than 1,700 HEPP and dam projects were planned leaving rivers with no or very little natural water flow for the living of local people, maintaining of the cultural diversity and nature…. Rivers and river basins of Turkey have become subject for purely commercial development, with no considerations on the rural issues and the environment…. However, the Ministry of Environment insists consistently with proceeding this HEPP and dam policy with no change. Therefore, even court decisions involving the suspension or cancelation of HEPP and dam projects are not implemented. Such an attitude and policy is unacceptable for any national and international standards.” (original translation, online at: english.turkiyesumeclisi.net/ Access 25 November 2013).
- 27.
Members of the World Commission on Dams were not representatives of states (see Scheumann and Hensengerth as well as Nymann et al. in this volume).
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Acknowledgments
We are most thankful to Professor Dr Aysegul Kibaroglu from Okan University Istanbul, Dr Sahnaz Tigrek from Middle East Technical University Ankara, Dr Vakur Sumer from Selçuk University Konya, Professor Dr Muzaffer Yucel and Professor Dr Sevilay Topcu from Cukurova University Adana, Professor Gokhan Orhan from University Balikesir and many other academic colleagues throughout Turkey.
We gratefully acknowledge the support we received: from water policy and water law experts; from the public authorities concerned with dam planning and environmental, expropriation and resettlement planning and project implementation; from politicians and members of the Turkish parliament; from private sector representatives involved in consultancy services and dam construction; and from non-governmental organisations engaged in the dam debate.
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Scheumann, W., Baumann, V., Mueller, AL., Mutschler, D., Ismail, S., Walenta, T. (2014). Sustainable Dam Development in Turkey: Between Europeanization and Authoritarian Governance. In: Scheumann, W., Hensengerth, O. (eds) Evolution of Dam Policies. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23403-3_5
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