Gravity dams

Cyprus is grappling with a severe water shortage as the ongoing drought pushes the country's dam capacity to worryingly low levels. According to Yianna Economidou, senior executive engineer at the Water Development Department, the dams are currently at just 27% capacity, down from 49% at this time last year, with levels continuing to drop due to a lack of rainfall.

Energy production at the Ilısu Dam in southeast Turkey has reached full capacity, Agriculture Minister Bekir Pakdemirli said on Dec. 24, adding that it is expected to contribute 2.8 billion lira ($366 million) a year to the economy.

Water in Kars Dam in Turkey's northeast has filled to the brim, with only half of the minaret of a mosque surviving above water and a village having completely submerged, as the dam is set to irrigate 50,000 hectares of agricultural land and generate energy.

The Turkish ministry of environment and urban planning will be constructing a total of 5,716 houses after the houses were demolished in PKK terrorist attacks three years ago in Turkey's southeastern province of Şırnak.

A court in the northeastern province of Erzincan has cancelled an environmental clearance for a hydroelectric (HES) dam planned for construction on the Tagar River.

Airstrikes have "neutralized" 11 outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants in northern Iraq and the rural regions of Turkey's southern Şırnak province, the Turkish General Staff said July 4.

One Turkish soldier was killed when an improvised explosive device planted by outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants blew up in the southeastern Şırnak province on April 24, state-run Anadolu Agency reported, citing a regional governor's office. 

A court in the northeastern province of Erzincan has cancelled the environmental clearance for a hydroelectric (HES) dam planned for construction on the Karasu River.

Nine people have been killed and 28 have been wounded in a bus accident in the southeastern district of Silopi in Şırnak, Doğan News Agency reported on Jan. 12.

Three road construction workers were killed in an armed attack by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the southeastern province of Şırnak on Aug. 28, according to the governor's office.