British Democracy Forum - View Single Post - Turkeys water resources turn it into a regional power

Intbel · 07-04-2006, 07:46 PM

Conservative corruption left such a broad tideline that it isn’t easy to say where the highwater mark was. But many would choose a story which resulted in the most humiliating legal verdict any recent British government has faced: the Pergau dam scandal. The Tory administration, being determined to secure contracts for both its arms manufacturers and the construction company Balfour Beatty, misdirected some £200 million to finance a white elephant dam in Malaysia, through an obscure funding mechanism called the Aid and Trade Provision.

If, somehow, you managed to miss this drama, don’t worry. The whole intriguing tale is now being repeated by a government near you. The Labour administration, being determined to secure contracts for both its arms manufacturers and the construction company Balfour Beatty, has misdirected some £200 million to finance a white elephant dam in Turkey, through an obscure funding mechanism called the Export Credit Guarantee Department.

There is, however, one critical difference. The primary purpose of the Pergau dam, like that of most major construction, was to provide lucrative work for large companies. The Ilisu Dam in Turkey will certainly fulfill this function. Like Pergau, it will also provide some electricity, though not, of course, as much as forecast. But the main purposes of the Turkish government’s project are quite different. The first is to hold Syria and Iraq to ransom by controlling the flow of the River Tigris. The second is to assist its ethnic cleansing programme.

The ancient city of Hasankeyf is one of the most important archaeological sites on earth, continuously inhabited for 10,000 years, bearing the remains of nine distinct civilisations. The Kurds regard the city as their cultural heartland. Turkey sees it as an emblem of resistance. When Hasankeyf and surrounding settlements are drowned by the dam, some twenty thousand Kurds will be forced from their homes and moved INTO phpbb_model villages in which they can be monitored and controlled. Our government, which went to war in the spring to stop ethnic cleansing, is, in the winter, underwriting it.

It is not hard to see why. European leaders have just agreed that Turkey can join the union: one result will be valuable contracts for British companies if the government can forge strong commercial links with the Turkish administration. Turkey has recently doubled its military budget, partly in order to complete its destruction of the Kurds. British companies see the country’s defence sector as a massive potential market.

07-04-2006, 07:46 PM	#5 (permalink)
Intbel Uber Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: In a field near you - look for the yellow and purple tent ... Posts: 4,665	update. Conservative corruption left such a broad tideline that it isn’t easy to say where the highwater mark was. But many would choose a story which resulted in the most humiliating legal verdict any recent British government has faced: the Pergau dam scandal. The Tory administration, being determined to secure contracts for both its arms manufacturers and the construction company Balfour Beatty, misdirected some £200 million to finance a white elephant dam in Malaysia, through an obscure funding mechanism called the Aid and Trade Provision. If, somehow, you managed to miss this drama, don’t worry. The whole intriguing tale is now being repeated by a government near you. The Labour administration, being determined to secure contracts for both its arms manufacturers and the construction company Balfour Beatty, has misdirected some £200 million to finance a white elephant dam in Turkey, through an obscure funding mechanism called the Export Credit Guarantee Department. There is, however, one critical difference. The primary purpose of the Pergau dam, like that of most major construction, was to provide lucrative work for large companies. The Ilisu Dam in Turkey will certainly fulfill this function. Like Pergau, it will also provide some electricity, though not, of course, as much as forecast. But the main purposes of the Turkish government’s project are quite different. The first is to hold Syria and Iraq to ransom by controlling the flow of the River Tigris. The second is to assist its ethnic cleansing programme. The ancient city of Hasankeyf is one of the most important archaeological sites on earth, continuously inhabited for 10,000 years, bearing the remains of nine distinct civilisations. The Kurds regard the city as their cultural heartland. Turkey sees it as an emblem of resistance. When Hasankeyf and surrounding settlements are drowned by the dam, some twenty thousand Kurds will be forced from their homes and moved INTO phpbb_model villages in which they can be monitored and controlled. Our government, which went to war in the spring to stop ethnic cleansing, is, in the winter, underwriting it. It is not hard to see why. European leaders have just agreed that Turkey can join the union: one result will be valuable contracts for British companies if the government can forge strong commercial links with the Turkish administration. Turkey has recently doubled its military budget, partly in order to complete its destruction of the Kurds. British companies see the country’s defence sector as a massive potential market. __________________ We are all free to choose - every step of the way - no exceptions.