§ 2. Mr. Harry Cohen (Leyton and Wanstead)If he will make a statement on his Department's policy toward the proposed Ilisu dam project in Turkey. [90007]
§ The Minister for Trade (Mr. Brian Wilson)No decision has been taken on whether to make Export Credits Guarantee Department support available. A project of this nature is bound to give rise to major environmental and social issues and I want to be sure that they are properly addressed. That is why we have commissioned our own research, including an assessment of the views of the local population. We are working closely with other Departments, and the other export credit agencies involved, as well as with the Turkish authorities and the contractors. When we have completed our analysis, we will decide whether to make support available.
§ Mr. CohenIs my hon. Friend aware that the dam is being built in an area under emergency rule, to which the Foreign Office has advised against travel unless on essential business? It is a site of on-going ethnic conflict in which the local Kurds have been subject to oppressive action by the Turkish Government. Is my hon. Friend also aware that it has been alleged that the project will flood many Kurdish towns and villages, including the ancient city of Hasankeyf, and violate the World Bank's environmental and resettlement guidelines as well as the European convention on human rights? Hon. Members are highly suspicious of the project. Will my hon. Friend help to reduce that suspicion by guaranteeing that all environmental impact assessment reports that he receives are properly placed in the House of Commons Library?
§ Mr. WilsonI am aware of all those concerns. Some of them have been overstated and are not quite in accordance with the facts. It is precisely because such concerns exist that we have sent our own independent mission to the area to assess all aspects of the project, including of course the views of the local people.
It is not in my power to say that reports that do not belong to the British Government will be placed in the Library without the consent of those to whom they belong, but I have undertaken to place the report by our own consultants in the Library as soon as it is available.