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Financiers May Withdraw From Ilisu Dam

Last year, the governments of Switzerland, Austria and Germany approved export guarantees for the controversial dam, provided that the Turkish government comply with 150 conditions on social and environmental concerns. A committee of experts was set up to monitor the implementation of these conditions. In early 2008, just before the planned start of construction, the expert team published a devastating review, which concluded that Turkish authorities ignored most of the project’s environmental and social conditions. In March, Federal minister Heidemarie Wieczoreck-Zeul said that Germany will "withdraw export guarantees if the agreed to measures are not applied." In April, government delegations from all three donor countries spent weeks in Turkey’s capital to encourage authorities to implement the conditions.

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