Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
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REVUE DE PRESSE-PRESS REVIEW..BERHEVOKA ÇAPÊ-RNISTA STAMPA-DENTRO DE lA PRENSA-BASIN ÖZET;<br />
Some years ago the project administrators<br />
were accused of focusin!Z too much on the<br />
supe:stru~tural a.spects of the projec.t and<br />
thus Ignonng the mfrastructure dimensIOn.<br />
Ünver responds: "A comprehensive study<br />
Ill}. the ~f,~g,ionhas .produced a total. of 240<br />
w. f(\lS~.'ljct.\Ire. pr9\~cls. to, ~o ,hand I,n h.~nd<br />
.with tbe, main pr~ect. They mclu<strong>de</strong> .'ll' I?ch<br />
selection of urban <strong>de</strong>velopment, drlnkmg<br />
'water, sewage. irrigation, electricity and<br />
telecommunications schemes.<br />
"Today we have compl<strong>et</strong>ed all infrastructure<br />
works in towns with<br />
10,000 plus. The political<br />
a population of<br />
authority often<br />
reveals its commitment to the full-scale realization<br />
of both the urban and the rural infrastructure<br />
<strong>de</strong>sign of the region," he said.<br />
The significance of the infrastructure<br />
aspect has been clearly un<strong>de</strong>rlined by the<br />
sCientific facts and figures.<br />
"The unit cost of mfrastructure in ~Irnak<br />
township would automatically triple if the<br />
resi<strong>de</strong>nts here ll1igrate to, say. the city of<br />
tzmir," explains Unver.<br />
Recently, there have been reports that<br />
financial'<br />
'struction<br />
bottlenecks put a halt to the conof<br />
Urfa Tunnels, the world's<br />
largest i~~ation tunnels at 25 fe<strong>et</strong> in diam<strong>et</strong>er.<br />
The urfa Tunnels were <strong>de</strong>signed so as<br />
to oive life to the arid Harran Plain.<br />
fhe problems, however, stem directly<br />
from skyrock<strong>et</strong>ing cement prices, which put<br />
the.contracting firm into financial difficulty.<br />
The Turkish Daily News learned from<br />
State Hvdraulic Works authorities that the<br />
originai agreement with Akpmar tn~aat, the<br />
contractor of the tunnels, states that the payments<br />
to this firm should be ma<strong>de</strong> in terms<br />
of the U.S. dollar, as a sort of precaution to<br />
protect the company from the erosion of<br />
mflation.<br />
Y<strong>et</strong> the Turkish lira <strong>de</strong>preciation against<br />
the dollar has fallen much short of the<br />
increase in cement prices, thus causing losses<br />
for the contractor.<br />
Akpmar applied to the government for<br />
compensation, but no <strong>de</strong>cision has been<br />
ma<strong>de</strong> so far.<br />
Were there any financial problems <strong>de</strong>laying<br />
the entire project? "No, there are no<br />
problems on an integrated level. One can<br />
Imagine there may be <strong>de</strong>lays and problems<br />
on individual project levels in an integrated<br />
project of 495 projects. But I can say that<br />
there are no serious problems to <strong>de</strong>lay the<br />
entire project," he noted.<br />
Ünyer commented: "It is very fortunate<br />
that financial problems that the GAP has<br />
had to face are at the minimum. Such problems<br />
occur very rarely and are then resolved<br />
very quickly. This ste~~ from the f~ct that<br />
there IS undisI>uted polttlcal and SOCialconsensus<br />
on the GAP.'<br />
Asked wh<strong>et</strong>her the bu~~<strong>et</strong>ary constraints<br />
may <strong>de</strong>lay the project, unver said that a<br />
financial blockage to the routine <strong>de</strong>velopment<br />
of the project is very likely beca~s~ of<br />
the commitments of the present political<br />
authority.<br />
"Moreover, the economic r<strong>et</strong>urns of th~<br />
individual projects w!1l increase<br />
passage of time, helpmg finance<br />
wit~ the<br />
the lOte.<br />
grated project. The GAP is no more a pro-<br />
Ject whose r<strong>et</strong>urns would be obtained in the<br />
future," he ad<strong>de</strong>d.<br />
Upon a landmark visit to the povertystricken<br />
Southe~t in spri~g 1993, Presi<strong>de</strong>nt<br />
Süleyman Demirel had given or<strong>de</strong>rs for an<br />
economic revival package to boost econom;<br />
ic activity. The State Planning 9rganization<br />
(OPT) conclu<strong>de</strong>d a comprehenSIVe study on<br />
the r.rogram and policymakers <strong>de</strong>ci<strong>de</strong>d that<br />
the 'Eastern Anatolia Action Plan" should<br />
be properly coordinated with the GAP.<br />
"The OPT <strong>de</strong>signed the plan in coordination<br />
with our experts. I refer to a five-year<br />
perspective plan that <strong>de</strong>tails the projects to<br />
be un<strong>de</strong>rtaken by our transportation, aoricul><br />
tural and infrastructural programs," Dnyer<br />
explains.<br />
"The plan well reflects the intçgrated<br />
characteristics' of the GAP.1t aims to raise<br />
the social indicator's of the region at least to<br />
the national averages."<br />
He also points to some aspects that are<br />
usually ignored when such <strong>de</strong>ve~opment<br />
projects are being un<strong>de</strong>rtaken: environment<br />
and sustainability. .,<br />
"Sustainability has <strong>de</strong>fimtely Impo~ed a<br />
new condition for all fac<strong>et</strong>s of <strong>de</strong>velopment.<br />
Dr. Olcay Ünver, presi<strong>de</strong>nt of the GAP<br />
Regional Development Administration<br />
..nver graduated from the Middle<br />
East Technical University (METU)<br />
U with a B.S. in Civil Engineering in<br />
1979.<br />
He received his M.S. in Civil<br />
Engineering from the same university in<br />
1981 and, in 1987, eamed a PhD in Civil<br />
Engineering from the University of Texas<br />
in the United States.<br />
He worked as an engineer in the infrastructure<br />
project of Batikent, Ankara; a<br />
research assistant at METU; a research<br />
assistant and a research associate at the<br />
University ofTexas and a staff engineer at<br />
the Lower Colorado River Authority iri<br />
the United States.<br />
He r<strong>et</strong>urned to Turkey i,n 1988 and<br />
worked as the water resources specialist at<br />
the GAP Project Management Unit of the<br />
State Planmng Orgamzation, where he<br />
later became a <strong>de</strong>puty director. In<br />
November 1989, the Pnme Ministry's<br />
GAP Regional Development<br />
Administration was foun<strong>de</strong>d and Dr.<br />
Ünver was appointed as the regional<br />
director in SanllUrfa.<br />
In June 1991, he became the presi<strong>de</strong>nt<br />
It has also ma<strong>de</strong> rf e~sential to adopt an mtegrated<br />
approach to <strong>de</strong>velopment, as opposed<br />
to the fragmented,<br />
of the past. '<br />
project-specific approach<br />
We now know that sustainable irrigation<br />
<strong>de</strong>velopment can be achieved. Mistakes<br />
ma<strong>de</strong> in the past, in the <strong>de</strong>veloping<br />
. <strong>de</strong>veloped countries alike, provi<strong>de</strong><br />
and the<br />
us valuable<br />
information as to Jhe possible<br />
quences," according to Unyer.<br />
conse-<br />
Experts have been conducting an environmental<br />
impact assessment study in the<br />
Southeast. In the meantime, SOCIOlogists<br />
have been carrying out field studies.<br />
"Social dimension<br />
cancé. We know that<br />
is of great<br />
we should<br />
signifi-<br />
pay due<br />
regard to social sustainability," he said. The<br />
GAP<br />
make<br />
policymakers believe that they will<br />
great use of an exclusive study compl<strong>et</strong>ed<br />
recently by a group of aca<strong>de</strong>micians,<br />
led by Professor W. Henruicxhsmeyer from<br />
Bonn University and Professor Haluk<br />
Kasnakoglu from the Middle East Technical<br />
University.<br />
The study, titled. "GAP Mark<strong>et</strong>ing and<br />
Crop Pattern Slùdies" willrepresent a major<br />
gui<strong>de</strong>line to final shaping ~f the agro-business<br />
policies in the region, Unver noted.<br />
of the administration. Dr. Ünver has published<br />
papers in interna~ional journal~ and<br />
conference and symposIUm presentatIOns.<br />
He is a member of nationa[ and international<br />
professional associations and serves<br />
on teclïnical committees.<br />
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