Sustainable human development in Upper Mesopotamia [hydropower project]

The Southeastern Anatolia Project is a multi-sectoral, integrated and sustainable development project implemented in the southeastern part of Turkey. The objective of the Project is to minimize, in the medium term, inter and intra regional disparities in socio-economic development by raising the income and welfare levels of the people, and eliminate such disparities completely in the long term. The basic means to that end is the development of water, land and human resources in the basin of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, along with improvements in infrastructure and social services, With GAP, it is planned to construct 22 dams and 19 hydraulic power plants, open 1.7 million hectares of farm land to irrigation, and to generate employment for about 3.5 million people. The project encompassed not only physical investments to boost economic growth but also social services such as health and education which contribute to human development and other efforts in the fields of culture, tourism, communication, urban-rural infrastructure, sanitation and industry.