[Deuda-QdQ] [Fwd: Retroceden algunas ECAs: European ECAs backing out of Ilisu Dam Project in Turkey]]

[Monica - ODG]

-------- Missatge original --------
Assumpte: 	Retroceden algunas ECAs: European ECAs backing out of Ilisu 
Dam Project in Turkey]
Data: 	Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:27:00 +0200
De: 	Monica - ODG <monica.vargas en odg.cat>
A: 	deuda-2005 en llistes.moviments.net



Compas,
Les comparto una noticia buena. Es una victoria de la Campaña sobre 
Agencias de Crédito a la Exportación (ECAs como nuestra CESCE), a nivel 
de Suiza, Austria y Alemania. Concretamente, como pueden ver en el 
comunicado de prensa de abajo, un trabajo activista fuerte ha logrado 
que esas ECAs retiren su apoyo a una megarepresa en Turquia (Ilisu).
Abrazo
Mónica

------------------------------

*Germany**, Austria and Switzerland backing out of Ilisu Dam Project in 
Turkey*
*
Stop Ilisu Campaign welcomes this unprecedented step*

*(Berlin, Vienna, Zurich -- June 22, 2009) Germany, Austria and 
Switzerland will withdraw their export credit guarantees for the highly 
controversial Ilisu dam project in Turkey by July 6th, as the German 
daily Frankfurter Rundschau Online reported on Friday. This is an 
unprecedented step in the history of export finance. Environmental and 
human rights organisations had repeatedly pointed out that Turkey 
violated conditions tied to the guarantees and the environmental, 
social, cultural and geopolitical problems remained unsolved. *
 
"We greatly welcome that the European governments finally take 
international standards for this project seriously", comments Heike 
Drillisch from the German Ilisu Campaign CounterCurrent. "This is a 
great step forward for the protection of human rights, the environment 
and cultural heritage."

CounterCurrent and the Swiss organisation Berne Declaration had only 
recently been to the Ilisu region on the Tigris river to analyse if 
Turkey was fulfilling the European conditions. "Our research showed that 
there is still no solution for the 60,000 people losing their means of 
existence nor for the salvage of the invaluable cultural heritage doomed 
by flooding", declares Berne Declaration's Christine Eberlein. "On the 
contrary, Turkey has continued to expropriate farmers even during the 
ultimatum."

Due to repeated violations of the conditions by the Turkish authorities, 
the governments of Germany, Austria and Switzerland had put the 
contracts on hold for 180 days at the end of 2008. The deadline to 
decide on the final withdrawal ends on July 6th, but the German 
government obviously already made up its mind. As the three countries 
decide unanimously, this means that Austria and Switzerland will also 
back out.

The withdrawal is a huge victory for environmentalists and human rights 
advocates who have campaigned for years for the stop of the mega dam. It 
increases the likelihood that project will be cancelled completely, as 
Turkey now lacks 450 m Euro and technical know how. The political 
impacts of the withdrawal weigh even stronger: for the first time export 
credit contracts are cancelled on grounds of humanitarian, cultural and 
environmental concerns. The reputation of the project thus equals to 
zero. Therefore it will be difficult for Turkey to find new sponsors, as 
the European banks providing finance for the project are expected to 
also withdraw.

"This is an important stage win for us. We will now increase our efforts 
to have the project revoked in Turkey as well", says Ulrich Eichelmann 
from the Stop Ilisu Campaign in Austria. Prominent artists like nobel 
prize writer Orhan Pamuk and pop singer Tarkan have already embarked the 
campaign to stop the Ilisu dam and make the antique town of Hasankeyf 
and the surrounding Tigris river a UNESCO World Heritage Site.


_Contacts:_
Heike Drillisch (CounterCurrent - Ilisu Campaign Germany), 
heike.drillisch en gegenstroemung.org 
<mailto:heike.drillisch en gegenstroemung.org>, +49 177 345 2611
Christine Eberlein (Berne Declaration), ceberlein en evb.ch 
<mailto:ceberlein en evb.ch>, +41 794 263 056
Ulrich Eichelmann (ECA Watch Österreich), ulrich.eichelmann en eca-watch.at 
<mailto:ulrich.eichelmann en eca-watch.at>, 0043 676 662 1512
-- 
GegenStrömung - Ilisu-Kampagne Deutschland
CounterCurrent - Ilisu Campaign Germany
Heike Drillisch
heike.drillisch en gegenstroemung.org, Tel. ++49-(0)177-345 26 11


-- 
Observatori del Deute en la Globalització (ODG)
http://www.odg.cat



-- 
Observatori del Deute en la Globalització (ODG)
http://www.odg.cat


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