Atatürk Dam
Encyclopedia
The Atatürk Dam originally the Karababa Dam, is a zoned rock-fill dam with a central core on the Euphrates
River on the border of Adıyaman Province
and Şanlıurfa Province
in Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey
. Built both to generate electricity and to irrigate the plains in the region, it was renamed in honour of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
(1881–1938), the founder of the Turkish Republic
. The construction began in 1983 and was completed in 1990. The dam and the hydroelectric power plant, which went into service after the upfilling of reservoir was accomplished in 1992, are operated by the State Hydraulic Works (DSİ)
. The reservoir created behind the dam, called Lake Atatürk Dam , is the third largest in Turkey.
The dam is situated at 24 km (14.9 mi) northwest to Bozova
town of Şanlıurfa Province on the state road to Adıyaman
. Centerpiece of the 22 dams on the Euphrates and the Tigris
, which all form the integrated, multi-sector regional development project of Southeastern Anatolia Project
, known as GAP, it is one of the world's largest dams. The Atatürk Dam, one of the five operational dams on the Euphrates as of 2008, is preceded by Keban
and Karakaya
dams upstream and followed by Birecik
and the Karkamış
dams downstream. Two more dams on the river are under construction.
The dam embankment is 169 m (554.5 ft) high and 1820 m (5,971.1 ft) long. The hydroelectric power plant (HEPP) has a total installed power capacity of 2,400 MW generating 8,900 GWh electricity annually.
The total cost of the dam project amounted about US$ 1.25 billion.
The dam was depicted on the reverse
of the Turkish one million lira
banknotes of 1995-2005 and of the 1 new lira banknote of 2005-2009.
Dolsar Engineering and ATA Construction, two prominent Turkish companies, signed for the building of the dam. The construction of the cofferdam
began in 1985 and was completed in 1987. The fill work for the main dam lasted from 1987 to 1990. The Atatürk Dam, listed in international construction publications as the world's largest construction site, was completed in a world record time of around 50 months.
The rock-fill dam undergoes deformations that are regularly and systematically monitored since 1990 with different types of sensors. It is estimated that the central portion of the dam crest has settled by around 7 m since the end of the construction. Settlement of the dam crest up to 4.3 m has been measured since the start of the detailed geodetic monitoring in 1992. The maximum horizontal (radial) deformation measured is about 2.9 m.
The permeation
grouting work was carried out by subcontractor Solétanche Bachy and the rehabilitation work for the post-tensioning of the dam crest with ground anchors by Vorspann System Losinger International (VSL).
and generator groups of 300 MW each, supplied by Sulzer
Escher Wyss and ABB Asea Brown Boveri respectively. The up to 7,25 m dia steel pressure pipes (penstocks) with a total weight of 26.600 tons were supplied and installed by the German NOELL company (today DSD NOELL). The power plant's first two power units came on line in 1992 and it became fully operational in December 1993. The HEPP can generate 8,900 GWh of electricity annually. Its capacity makes up around one third of the total capacity of the GAP project.
During the periods of low demand for electricity, only one of the eight units of the HEPP is in operation while in times of high demand, all the eight units are in operation. Hence, depending upon the energy demand and the state of the interconnected system, the amount of water to be released from the HEPP might vary between 200 and 2,000 m³/sec in one day.
Originating in the mountains of eastern Anatolia and flowing southwards to Syria
and Iraq
, the Euphrates and the Tigris are very irregular rivers, used to cause great problems each year with droughts in summer and flooding in winter. The water of the Euphrates River is regulated by means of large reservoirs of the Keban and Atatürk Dams. However, the waters released from the HEPPs of those dams also need to be regulated. The Birecik and the Karkamış Dams downstream the Atatürk Dam are constructed for the purpose of harnessing the waters released from large-scale dams and HEPPs.
Nearly 4760 km² (1,837.8 sq mi) of arable land in the Şanlıurfa
-Harran
and Mardin
-Ceylanpınar
plains in upper Mesopotamia
is being irrigated via gravity-flow with water diverted from the Atatürk Dam through the Şanlıurfa Tunnels system, which consists of two parallel tunnels, each 26.4 km (16.4 mi) long and 7.62 m (25 ft) in diameter. The flow rate of water through the tunnels is about 328 m3/s, which makes one-third of the total flow of the Euphrates. The tunnels are the largest in the world, in terms of length and flow rate, built for irrigation purposes. The first tunnel was completed in 1995 and the other in 1996. The reservoir behind the dam will irrigate another 406,000 ha by pumping for a total of 882,000 ha.
The Atatürk Dam and the Şanlıurfa Tunnel system are two major components of the GAP project. Irrigation started in the Harran Plain in the spring of 1995. The impact of the irrigation on the economy of the region is significant. In ninety percent of the irrigated area, cotton is planted. Irrigation expansion within the Harran plains also increased Southeastern Anatolia's cotton production from 164,000 to 400,000 metric tons in 2001, or nearly sixty percent. With almost 50% share of the country's cotton production, the region developed to the leader in Turkey.
The reservoir Lake Atatürk Dam, extending over an area of 817 km² (315.4 sq mi) with a water volume of 48.7 km³ (63,400 million cu yd), ranks third in size in Turkey after Lake Van
and Lake Tuz
. The reservoir water level touched 535 m amsl in 1994. Since then, it varies between 526 and 537 m amsl. The full reservoir level is 542 m (1,778.2 ft) and the minimum operation level is 526 m (1,725.7 ft) amsl.
10 towns and 156 villages of three provinces are located around the Lake Atatürk Dam. The lake provides a fisheries and recreation site. For transportation purposes, several ferries are operated in the reservoir. The reservoir lake is called "sea" by local people.
Commercially fishing in the reservoir developed to a catch of around annually 1,000 tons of some fish species with a market value of US$1.26 million. 8 of the 12 fish species being caught are economically valuable. In addition, the lake has a potential for cage culture of 7,000 tons/year worth of US$14 million.
With the aim of utilizing the fishing potential and creating jobs for the lakeside populations, the reservoir is zoned to 21 fishing sectors, each one having a water products cooperative. Considering all aspects of fishery activities, the reservoir contributes in total US$15 million to GNP
and generates employment for 1,600 people.
Furthermore, International Atatürk Dam Sailing Competition takes place every year in October on the lake.
s and villages were inundated and about 55,000 people were forced to relocate, many of them resettling in nearby communities.
In 1989, the old town of Samosata
(Samsat), capital of the ancient Commagene kingdom located in Adıyaman Province
, and all its history were flooded behind the Atatürk Dam. A new town with the same name Samsat was founded for the around 2,000 people dislocated.
The birthplace of the Ancient Greek poet Lucian
was lost when the dam was created.
Since the entire GAP area was home to early civilizations of Hittites
, Assyrians, Medes
, Persians, Greeks
, Romans
, Arabs and Turks
, and therefore rich in terms of historical remains, cultural heritage of the region was a concern. The subject of salvaging cultural heritages gained importance, particularly after inundation of Samsat.
The early Neolithic settlement of Nevalı Çori
, site of some of the world's most ancient known temples and monumental sculpture
, was discovered during rescue excavations before the dam was completed. Nevalı Çori was inundated by Atatürk Dam's reservoir.
, while the remaining part is added in Syria
, but nothing is contributed further downstream in Iraq. In general, the stream varies greatly in its flow from season to season and year to year. As an example, the annual flow at the border with Syria ranged from 15.3 km³ (3.7 cu mi) in 1961 to 42.7 km³ (10.2 cu mi) in 1963.
One of the most important legal texts on the waters of the Euphrates-Tigris river system is the protocol annexed to the 1946 Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighborly Relations between Iraq and Turkey. The protocol provided the control and management of the Euphrates and the Tigris depending to a large extent on the regulations of flow in Turkish source areas. Turkey agreed to begin monitoring the two border-crossing rivers and to share related data with Iraq. In 1980, Turkey and Iraq further specified the nature of the earlier protocol by forming a joint committee on technical issues, which Syria joined later in 1982 as well. Turkey unilaterally guaranteed to allow 15.75 km³/year (500 m³/s) of water across the border to Syria without any formal agreement on the sharing of the Euphrates water.
Mid January 1990, when the first phase of the dam was completed, Turkey held back the flow of the Euphrates entirely for a month to begin filling up the reservoir. Turkey had notified Syria and Iraq by November 1989 of her decision to fill the reservoir over a period of one month explaining the technical reasons and providing a detailed program for making up for the losses. The downstream neighbors protested vehemently. At this point, the Atatürk Dam has cut the flow from the Euphrates by about a third.
Syria and Iraq claim to be suffering severe water shortages due to the GAP development. Both countries allege that Turkey is intentionally withholding supplies from its downstream neighbors, turning water into a weapon. Turkey denies these claims, and insists it has always supplied its southern neighbors with the promised minimum of 500 m3/s. It argues that Iraq and Syria in fact benefit from the regulated water by the dams as they protect all three riparian countries from seasonal droughts and floods.
Syria's anger over the GAP project was a major factor in its decision in the mid 1990s to provide support to the Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK) in Turkey. Fed by discontent over the status of Kurds in Turkey, the PKK then grew into a major terrorist threat to the Turkish state.
Euphrates
The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
River on the border of Adıyaman Province
Adiyaman Province
Adıyaman Province is a province in south-central Turkey. The province was created in 1954 out of part of Malatya Province. Area 7,614 km². Population 590,935 , up from 513,131 in 1990. The capital is Adıyaman....
and Şanlıurfa Province
Sanliurfa Province
Şanlıurfa Province or simply Urfa Province is a province in Southeast Anatolia, Turkey. The city of Şanlıurfa is the capital of the province which bears its name. The population is 1,663,371 ....
in Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. Built both to generate electricity and to irrigate the plains in the region, it was renamed in honour of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was an Ottoman and Turkish army officer, revolutionary statesman, writer, and the first President of Turkey. He is credited with being the founder of the Republic of Turkey....
(1881–1938), the founder of the Turkish Republic
History of the Republic of Turkey
The Republic of Turkey was created after the overthrow of Sultan Mehmet VI Vahdettin by the new Republican Parliament in 1922. This new regime delivered the coup de grâce to the Ottoman state which had been practically wiped away from the world stage following the First World War.-Single-party...
. The construction began in 1983 and was completed in 1990. The dam and the hydroelectric power plant, which went into service after the upfilling of reservoir was accomplished in 1992, are operated by the State Hydraulic Works (DSİ)
State Hydraulic Works (Turkey)
The State Hydraulic Works is a state agency organized under the Ministry of Environment and Forestry of Turkey responsible for the utilization of country's all water resources...
. The reservoir created behind the dam, called Lake Atatürk Dam , is the third largest in Turkey.
The dam is situated at 24 km (14.9 mi) northwest to Bozova
Bozova
Bozova is a district of Şanlıurfa Province of Turkey, 38 km from the city of Şanlıurfa.Bozova is a plain of rich farmland watered from the lake behind the Atatürk Dam....
town of Şanlıurfa Province on the state road to Adıyaman
Adiyaman
Adıyaman is city in southeastern Turkey, capital of the Adıyaman Province. It is one of the fastest-growing cities in Turkey...
. Centerpiece of the 22 dams on the Euphrates and the Tigris
Tigris
The Tigris River is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows south from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq.-Geography:...
, which all form the integrated, multi-sector regional development project of Southeastern Anatolia Project
Southeastern Anatolia Project
The Southeastern Anatolia Project is a multi-sector integrated regional development project based on the concept of sustainable development for the 9 million people living in the Southeastern Anatolia region of Turkey...
, known as GAP, it is one of the world's largest dams. The Atatürk Dam, one of the five operational dams on the Euphrates as of 2008, is preceded by Keban
Keban Dam
The Keban Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Euphrates, located in the Elazığ Province of Turkey. The dam was the first and most upstream of several large-scale dams to be built on the Euphrates by Turkey...
and Karakaya
Karakaya Dam
The Karakaya Dam is one of the 21 dams of the Southeastern Anatolia Project of Turkey, built on the Euphrates River and completed in 1987. The hydroelectric dam generates power with six units of , totalling the installed capacity to ....
dams upstream and followed by Birecik
Birecik Dam
The Birecik Dam, one of the 21 dams of the Southeastern Anatolia Project of Turkey, is located on the Euphrates River downstream of Atatürk Dam and upstream of Birecik town west of Province of Şanlıurfa in the southeastern region of Turkey. It was purposed for irrigation and energy production...
and the Karkamış
Karkamis Dam
Karkamış Dam is one of the 21 dams of the Southeastern Anatolia Project of Turkey. It is on the Euphrates River. The foundation of the dam was laid in 1996, and is 4.5 kilometers from the Syria border...
dams downstream. Two more dams on the river are under construction.
The dam embankment is 169 m (554.5 ft) high and 1820 m (5,971.1 ft) long. The hydroelectric power plant (HEPP) has a total installed power capacity of 2,400 MW generating 8,900 GWh electricity annually.
The total cost of the dam project amounted about US$ 1.25 billion.
The dam was depicted on the reverse
Obverse and reverse
Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags , seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse...
of the Turkish one million lira
Turkish lira
The Turkish lira is the currency of Turkey and the de facto independent state of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. The lira is subdivided into 100 kuruş...
banknotes of 1995-2005 and of the 1 new lira banknote of 2005-2009.
Dam
The initial development project for the southeastern region of Turkey was presented in 1970. As the objectives for regional development have changed significantly and the ambitions have grown in the 1970s, the original plan underwent major modifications. The most important change in the project was abandoning the Middle Karababa Dam design, and adopting the design of the Atatürk Dam to increase the storage and power generation capacities of the dam.Cofferdam
A cofferdam is a temporary enclosure built within, or in pairs across, a body of water and constructed to allow the enclosed area to be pumped out, creating a dry work environment for the major work to proceed...
began in 1985 and was completed in 1987. The fill work for the main dam lasted from 1987 to 1990. The Atatürk Dam, listed in international construction publications as the world's largest construction site, was completed in a world record time of around 50 months.
The rock-fill dam undergoes deformations that are regularly and systematically monitored since 1990 with different types of sensors. It is estimated that the central portion of the dam crest has settled by around 7 m since the end of the construction. Settlement of the dam crest up to 4.3 m has been measured since the start of the detailed geodetic monitoring in 1992. The maximum horizontal (radial) deformation measured is about 2.9 m.
The permeation
Permeation
Permeation, in physics and engineering, is the penetration of a permeate through a solid, and is related to a material's intrinsic permeability...
grouting work was carried out by subcontractor Solétanche Bachy and the rehabilitation work for the post-tensioning of the dam crest with ground anchors by Vorspann System Losinger International (VSL).
Hydroelectric power plant
The HEPP of the Atatürk Dam is the biggest of a series of 19 power plants of the GAP project. It consists of eight Francis turbineFrancis turbine
The Francis turbine is a type of water turbine that was developed by James B. Francis in Lowell, Massachusetts. It is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts....
and generator groups of 300 MW each, supplied by Sulzer
Sulzer (manufacturer)
Sulzer Ltd. is a Swiss industrial engineering and manufacturing firm, founded by Salomon Sulzer-Bernet in 1775 and established as Sulzer Brothers Ltd. in 1834 in Winterthur, Switzerland. Today it is a publicly owned company with international subsidiaries...
Escher Wyss and ABB Asea Brown Boveri respectively. The up to 7,25 m dia steel pressure pipes (penstocks) with a total weight of 26.600 tons were supplied and installed by the German NOELL company (today DSD NOELL). The power plant's first two power units came on line in 1992 and it became fully operational in December 1993. The HEPP can generate 8,900 GWh of electricity annually. Its capacity makes up around one third of the total capacity of the GAP project.
During the periods of low demand for electricity, only one of the eight units of the HEPP is in operation while in times of high demand, all the eight units are in operation. Hence, depending upon the energy demand and the state of the interconnected system, the amount of water to be released from the HEPP might vary between 200 and 2,000 m³/sec in one day.
Irrigation
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
and Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, the Euphrates and the Tigris are very irregular rivers, used to cause great problems each year with droughts in summer and flooding in winter. The water of the Euphrates River is regulated by means of large reservoirs of the Keban and Atatürk Dams. However, the waters released from the HEPPs of those dams also need to be regulated. The Birecik and the Karkamış Dams downstream the Atatürk Dam are constructed for the purpose of harnessing the waters released from large-scale dams and HEPPs.
Nearly 4760 km² (1,837.8 sq mi) of arable land in the Şanlıurfa
Sanliurfa
Şanlıurfa, , often simply known as Urfa in daily language , in ancient times Edessa, is a city with 482,323 inhabitants Şanlıurfa, , often simply known as Urfa in daily language (Syriac ܐܘܪܗܝ Urhoy,Armenian Ուռհա Owr'ha, Arabic الرها ar-Ruhā), in ancient times Edessa, is a city with 482,323...
-Harran
Harran
Harran was a major ancient city in Upper Mesopotamia whose site is near the modern village of Altınbaşak, Turkey, 24 miles southeast of Şanlıurfa...
and Mardin
Mardin
Mardin is a city in southeastern Turkey. The capital of Mardin Province, it is known for its Arabic-like architecture, and for its strategic location on a rocky mountain overlooking the plains of northern Syria.-History:...
-Ceylanpınar
Ceylanpinar
Ceylanpınar is a town and district of Şanlıurfa Province in southeastern Turkey. On the border with Syria, it is reached by a long straight road across the plain south from Viranşehir...
plains in upper Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the...
is being irrigated via gravity-flow with water diverted from the Atatürk Dam through the Şanlıurfa Tunnels system, which consists of two parallel tunnels, each 26.4 km (16.4 mi) long and 7.62 m (25 ft) in diameter. The flow rate of water through the tunnels is about 328 m3/s, which makes one-third of the total flow of the Euphrates. The tunnels are the largest in the world, in terms of length and flow rate, built for irrigation purposes. The first tunnel was completed in 1995 and the other in 1996. The reservoir behind the dam will irrigate another 406,000 ha by pumping for a total of 882,000 ha.
The Atatürk Dam and the Şanlıurfa Tunnel system are two major components of the GAP project. Irrigation started in the Harran Plain in the spring of 1995. The impact of the irrigation on the economy of the region is significant. In ninety percent of the irrigated area, cotton is planted. Irrigation expansion within the Harran plains also increased Southeastern Anatolia's cotton production from 164,000 to 400,000 metric tons in 2001, or nearly sixty percent. With almost 50% share of the country's cotton production, the region developed to the leader in Turkey.
Reservoir lake
Lake Van
Lake Van is the largest lake in Turkey, located in the far east of the country in Van district. It is a saline and soda lake, receiving water from numerous small streams that descend from the surrounding mountains. Lake Van is one of the world's largest endorheic lakes . The original outlet from...
and Lake Tuz
Lake Tuz
Lake Tuz is the second largest lake in Turkey with its surface area and one of the largest hypersaline lakes in the world. It is located in the Central Anatolia Region, northeast of Konya, south-southeast of Ankara and northwest of Aksaray.-Geography:...
. The reservoir water level touched 535 m amsl in 1994. Since then, it varies between 526 and 537 m amsl. The full reservoir level is 542 m (1,778.2 ft) and the minimum operation level is 526 m (1,725.7 ft) amsl.
10 towns and 156 villages of three provinces are located around the Lake Atatürk Dam. The lake provides a fisheries and recreation site. For transportation purposes, several ferries are operated in the reservoir. The reservoir lake is called "sea" by local people.
Fishery
Atatürk Dam Lake is an abundant source of food for local people and also provides opportunities for recreational fishing. In 1992, around 200,000 young fish (fingerlings), propagated in DSI's Atatürk Fish Hatchery, were introduced into the reservoir. Since then, the figure of fingerlings stocked into the lake reached around 33 million.Commercially fishing in the reservoir developed to a catch of around annually 1,000 tons of some fish species with a market value of US$1.26 million. 8 of the 12 fish species being caught are economically valuable. In addition, the lake has a potential for cage culture of 7,000 tons/year worth of US$14 million.
With the aim of utilizing the fishing potential and creating jobs for the lakeside populations, the reservoir is zoned to 21 fishing sectors, each one having a water products cooperative. Considering all aspects of fishery activities, the reservoir contributes in total US$15 million to GNP
Gross National Income
The GNI consists of: the personal consumption expenditures, the gross private investment, the government consumption expenditures, the net income from assets abroad , and the gross exports of goods and services, after deducting two components: the gross imports of goods and services, and the...
and generates employment for 1,600 people.
Recreation and sports
In order to open the region to tourism, to introduce modern sports to the local people and to integrate the social and economic progress taking place in the region with sports as a drive, a water sports festival was established in 1994, which takes place each year in September. The young people in the region developed an interest in water sports and started to take part in international contests in the branches of sailing, rowing-canoeing, swimming and diving on the Lake Atatürk Dam.Furthermore, International Atatürk Dam Sailing Competition takes place every year in October on the lake.
Resettlement and salvaging cultural heritage
With the forming of the reservoir lake, more than hundred hamletHamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
s and villages were inundated and about 55,000 people were forced to relocate, many of them resettling in nearby communities.
In 1989, the old town of Samosata
Samosata
Samosata was an ancient city on the right bank of the Euphrates whose ruins existed at the modern city of Samsat, Adıyaman Province, Turkey until the site was flooded by the newly-constructed Atatürk Dam....
(Samsat), capital of the ancient Commagene kingdom located in Adıyaman Province
Adiyaman Province
Adıyaman Province is a province in south-central Turkey. The province was created in 1954 out of part of Malatya Province. Area 7,614 km². Population 590,935 , up from 513,131 in 1990. The capital is Adıyaman....
, and all its history were flooded behind the Atatürk Dam. A new town with the same name Samsat was founded for the around 2,000 people dislocated.
The birthplace of the Ancient Greek poet Lucian
Lucian
Lucian of Samosata was a rhetorician and satirist who wrote in the Greek language. He is noted for his witty and scoffing nature.His ethnicity is disputed and is attributed as Assyrian according to Frye and Parpola, and Syrian according to Joseph....
was lost when the dam was created.
Since the entire GAP area was home to early civilizations of Hittites
Hittites
The Hittites were a Bronze Age people of Anatolia.They established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia c. the 18th century BC. The Hittite empire reached its height c...
, Assyrians, Medes
Medes
The MedesThe Medes...
, Persians, Greeks
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
, Romans
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, Arabs and Turks
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, and therefore rich in terms of historical remains, cultural heritage of the region was a concern. The subject of salvaging cultural heritages gained importance, particularly after inundation of Samsat.
The early Neolithic settlement of Nevalı Çori
Nevali Cori
Nevalı Çori was an early Neolithic settlement on the middle Euphrates, in the province of Şanlıurfa , eastern Turkey. The site is famous for having revealed some of the world's most ancient known temples and monumental sculpture...
, site of some of the world's most ancient known temples and monumental sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
, was discovered during rescue excavations before the dam was completed. Nevalı Çori was inundated by Atatürk Dam's reservoir.
Political controversy
About 90% of Euphrates' total annual flow originates in TurkeyTurkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, while the remaining part is added in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
, but nothing is contributed further downstream in Iraq. In general, the stream varies greatly in its flow from season to season and year to year. As an example, the annual flow at the border with Syria ranged from 15.3 km³ (3.7 cu mi) in 1961 to 42.7 km³ (10.2 cu mi) in 1963.
One of the most important legal texts on the waters of the Euphrates-Tigris river system is the protocol annexed to the 1946 Treaty of Friendship and Good Neighborly Relations between Iraq and Turkey. The protocol provided the control and management of the Euphrates and the Tigris depending to a large extent on the regulations of flow in Turkish source areas. Turkey agreed to begin monitoring the two border-crossing rivers and to share related data with Iraq. In 1980, Turkey and Iraq further specified the nature of the earlier protocol by forming a joint committee on technical issues, which Syria joined later in 1982 as well. Turkey unilaterally guaranteed to allow 15.75 km³/year (500 m³/s) of water across the border to Syria without any formal agreement on the sharing of the Euphrates water.
Mid January 1990, when the first phase of the dam was completed, Turkey held back the flow of the Euphrates entirely for a month to begin filling up the reservoir. Turkey had notified Syria and Iraq by November 1989 of her decision to fill the reservoir over a period of one month explaining the technical reasons and providing a detailed program for making up for the losses. The downstream neighbors protested vehemently. At this point, the Atatürk Dam has cut the flow from the Euphrates by about a third.
Syria and Iraq claim to be suffering severe water shortages due to the GAP development. Both countries allege that Turkey is intentionally withholding supplies from its downstream neighbors, turning water into a weapon. Turkey denies these claims, and insists it has always supplied its southern neighbors with the promised minimum of 500 m3/s. It argues that Iraq and Syria in fact benefit from the regulated water by the dams as they protect all three riparian countries from seasonal droughts and floods.
Syria's anger over the GAP project was a major factor in its decision in the mid 1990s to provide support to the Kurdistan Workers Party
Kurdistan Workers Party
The Kurdistan Workers' Party , commonly known as PKK, also known as KGK and formerly known as KADEK or KONGRA-GEL , is a Kurdish organization which has since 1984 been fighting an armed struggle against the Turkish state for an autonomous Kurdistan and greater cultural and political rights...
(PKK) in Turkey. Fed by discontent over the status of Kurds in Turkey, the PKK then grew into a major terrorist threat to the Turkish state.