Ilisu Dam

Baroness Sarah Ludford Liberal Democrat MEP for London has expressed delight that UK construction firm Balfour Beatty has pulled out of the controversial Ilisu Dam project in Turkey but has criticised the European Commission for failing to act on this and other issues affecting Kurds in regard to Turkey's accession bid.

She said: "I am not surprised at Balfour Beatty's move. Earlier this year I predicted that they would conclude that the Dam was bad for business. They are more shrewd than the UK or other governments which envisage using taxpayers' money for export credit guarantees."

London's Liberal Democrat MEP Baroness Sarah Ludford was delighted to learn over the weekend of a report that looks set to stop the building of the Ilisu Dam.

The Sunday papers carried news of the report that was commissioned by Stephen Byers in 1999 when he was Trade and Industry Secretary. When the report was commissioned it was billed as the "definitive assessment" of the Ilisu Dam project. This view was reinforced shortly before the General Election by Richard Caborn who was a Minister at the DTI who said that support for the Ilisu dam project was dependent on the report's findings.

The Government has now received the report and it is reported that the findings are far from positive which should mean the end of Britain's involvement in the Ilisu Dam project.

Baroness Sarah Ludford London's Liberal Democrat MEP who is cordinator of the European Parliament's Kurdish network supported a protest by the Ilisu Dam Campaign (a consortium including Friends of the Earth and the Kurdish Human Rights Project) at the AGM of Balfour Beatty against their participation in the construction of the Ilisu Dam in the Kurdish region of Turkey.

Balfour Beatty have acquired a reputation for involvement in other controversial developments including the maintenace of the track implicated in the Hatfield rail crash and the Tube PPP.

London's Liberal Democrat Euro-MP Baroness Sarah Ludford has criticised Balfour Beatty for their inability to implement business practices appropriate to the 21st century by their determination to persist in bidding to build the Ilisu Dam in Turkey.

Speaking after attending the Balfour Beatty AGM today at which the Board opposed a resolution to observe the recommendations of the World Commission on Dams (WCD) Baroness Ludford said;

"Institutional shareholders from the City representing around 100 million shares declined to support the board in opposing the motion to observe the WCD criteria. This speaks volumes about their unhappiness with the way that the company's cavalier attitude may damage its reputation and its business performance. "

London's Liberal Democrat MEP Baroness Sarah Ludford will be joining the Ilisu Dam Campaign's protest at Balfour Beatty's AGM in London tomorrow.

Baroness Ludford will be joining environmental campaigners human rights activists trade unionists members of the Kurdish community and archaeologists hoping to press Balfour Beatty into pulling out of the Ilisu Dam project which would destroy the historical town of Hasankeyf make thousands of Turkish Kurds homeless and fail to benefit the local economy.

Speaking in advance of the meeting Baroness Ludford said:

Ludford calls for Britain and the EU to stick to an ethical foreign policy and not back the destructive Ilisu Dam project.

Sarah Ludford as coordinator of the Kurdish network in the European Parliament is calling on the European Union and its Member States especially the UK to ensure reforms and investment in Turkey to assist the Kurdish people not use taxpayers' money to help build the Ilisu Dam which will further disrupt their lives.

Earlier today to mark the Ilisu Dam Campaign Day of Action and International Day of Action on Dams Baroness Sarah Ludford Liberal Democrat Euro-MP for London sent a message from Strasbourg to the Ilisu Dam Campaign Demonstration in London.

Her statement read:

"I call on Balfour Beatty to pull out of the construction and Tony Blair to stop wasting taxpayers' money on export credit for this disastrous project."

"As co-ordinator of the Kurdish network in the European Parliament I am deeply concerned about the human rights of the largely Kurdish population of south-east Turkey. I had the opportunity last year to see as part of a visit to the Kurdish region the historic and beautiful town of Hasankeyf which would be flooded by the dam."