By the year 2010 the Turkish Cyprus may see the end to the water shortages that currently plague it, thanks to a project aimed at supplying water from the Anamur River.

Ecevit's dream to come true - 25 / 07 / 2008 09:48

By the year 2010 the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) may see the end to the water shortages that currently plague it, thanks to a project aimed at supplying water from the Anamur River in the southern township of the same name.

The project is the brainchild of Bulent Ecevit, the late former prime minister who was at the helm during Turkey's 1974 military intervention in Cyprus, but Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be the one making Ecevit's dream come true.

Erdogan announced during a visit to the island on Sunday for the 34th anniversary of the military intervention the good news that Turkey will be supplying the TRNC with water.

However, the prime minister did not give further details on the specifics of the project.

Yesterday, visiting TRNC Environment and Natural Resources Minister Mustafa Gokmen met with Environment Minister Veysel Eroglu to discuss the project Erdogan mentioned.

This meeting was taken by analysts as a sign of Erdogan's determination to keep his promise to Turkish Cypriots -- the premier himself invited Minister Gokmen to Ankara.

The Anamur-Cyprus water supply project was on top of the agenda during the two ministers' talks.

The project will bring water from a dam to be built on the Anamur River and pump the water from there to the Turkish Cypriot coastal city of Girne through a 78-kilometer pipeline, to run 250 meters below the sea.

A water treatment facility to be set up near the Turkish side of the capital Nicosia (Lefkosa) will treat nearly 15 million cubic meters for use as drinking water by Turkish Cypriots.

The remaining 60 million cubic meters will be used for the irrigation of the Meserya Plain.

In 2008 Cyprus has seen severe drought, with the Meserya Plain yielding no crops whatsoever.

With this project it is hoped the region will re reopened to agriculture via irrigation by 2010.

The first initiative to bring water to Cyprus was taken in 1998 when the State Waterworks Authority (DSI) prepared a feasibility project upon an order by Ecevit's government.

However, the project was shelved when economic crisis struck early in the new millennium.

Officials have restarted the project and if everything goes according to schedule, a tender will be opened as early as the end of this year.

The project to bring water to Cyprus from the Anamur River is expected to be completed in 27 months and cost around $9.5 million.

Extending a submarine power line and natural gas pipeline to Cyprus is another planned project.

Environment Ministry officials say they seek to have all parts of the project finished by 2023, the Turkish Republic's 100th anniversary.

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