Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

Revue de Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro de la Prensa-Baszn Özeti
duction, while the construction of 43 othersare currently
underway. Twenty-two are on the draWihg
board.
Erkan Alemdaroglu, regional development director
of the project, said on Sunday that once
GAP is implemented, the income of the
region would increase 4.5 times.
Alemdaroglu explained that research
they carried out entitled 'The Economic
Contribution of the GAP Irrigation
Scheme to Agricultural Production in the
Regio~,".esti.mated regional income - $
800 nulhon 10 1985 and $2.2 billion in
1995 - to reach $3.1 billion by the year
2000, $ 4.7 billion in 2005 and $ 6.6
billion in 2010.
Alemdaroglu, !toting that Turkey
currently has agncultural production
worth $16 billion, underlined that
the commissioning of GAP
would contribute to a great
extent.
~anhurfa Governor ~ahabettin
Harput said that 300,000 tons of
cotton was produced in ~anhurfa
and Harran Plains in 1996.
Noting that the cotton produced
on these two plains constitutes
one third of the total production
in Turkey, the governor noted
that it provides an income of
approximately $115 million.
Turkish Daily News
MONDAY,MARCH3,1997
Iranian gas deal in full swing
The Tebriz-Erzurum leg will
link the eastern city to the
Iranian- Turkmenistani gas
grid by mid-1998; Ankara
to be connected by 1999
Ankara- Turkish Daily News
• The state-owned pipeline company
BOTA~ is to announce the winmng bid for
the Turkish leg of the Iranian natural gas
pipeline project by the.end of this month,
the Anatolia news agency reported. Actual
construction will start by April of this year
to be completed by mid-1998.
The pipeline project is part of a multibillion
dollar deal Turkey signed with Iran
earlier in 1996 to meet increasing domestic
energy demand. As part of a much grander
scheme, Ankara aspires to become the reexport
center for Middle Eastern and
Central Asian natural gas and oil.
However, since Iran's production is
only just enough to meet domestic
demand, only Turkmenistani gas will
reach Turkey until the year 200 lor 2002.
There is an existing pipeline between
Turkmenistan and Iran, and so up to Il
billion cubic meters of Turkme01stani gas
can reach Turkeyevery year when the
Iran-Turkey.leg of the pipeline is completed.
Although Iranian natural gas reserves
are second only to Russian reserves,
Iran's production technology needs serious
upgrading before it can begin exporting,
said BOTA~ President Mustafa Murathan.
Iran is currently pumping about half of its
total gas productIOn back into its oil wells
to keep up its oil production.
The Tebriz-Erzurum leg of the pipc:line,
to be co~Pl.~tfedErzbY mi9~)i~~f,~~)~~)P.~.
eastern City 0 urum fo we J.J.41Uan-
Turkmenistani gas grid with ADkai'a bemg
will be connected by 1999. Iran has
already started the construction its own leg
of the pipeline which will run from the
northern town of Tebriz to the Turkish
border.
Ra~idly-growing domestic demand and
lucrative re-export opportunities to
Western markets provide strong incentives
for Ankara to expand its natural gas .
imports. Geographic proximity to major
producers of the commodity place Turkey
at the cutting edge of the market.
Currently, Turkey imports around 10 .
billion cubic meters of gas every year from
Russia and Algeria. An agreement has
been reached with Russia to double the
capacity of the existingpipeline passing
through the Balkans and the construction
of a new so. :alled "~tern" pipeline for
Russian gas has also been agreed upon.
When the Balkan and eastern pipeline
projects are completed, Turkey will have
more than quadrupled its current imports
from Russia.
However, Ankara does not want to rely
completely on its northern neighbor for
such a vital source of energy and is therefore
searching for alternative suppliers.
Therefore the Iranian deal is important for.
Ankarato keep its energy import options
open.
19