The US$176.4M Karkamis dam and hydro power plant were inaugurated in southeastern Turkey in December 1999. President Suleyman Demirel attended the inauguration ceremony. Construction of the dam, located 4.5km north of the Turkish-Syrian border on the Euphrates, started in May 1996. By May 2001 the plant should be in full operation and is expected to produce 652.5 M kWh of electricity. Both the dam and plant form part of Turkey’s ambitious Southeast Anatolia Project. (See IWP&DC August 1999, pp19-22.)
