Dam will add $83.5M to Turkish economy: President

By Ferdi Turkten

ARTVIN, Turkey (AA) – A new dam and hydroelectric power plant will pump some 450 million Turkish liras ($83.5 million) into Turkey’s economy every year, the country’s president said on Thursday.

The Yusufeli Dam in Artvin, northeastern Turkey will produce some 1.9 billion kilowatts per hour, Recep Tayyip Erdogan told a campaign rally and ribbon-cutting ceremony ahead of the March 31 local elections.

Underlining that some 26 billion liras ($4.8 billion) had been invested in the province in the past 17 years, under the rule of his Justice and Development (AK) Party, Erdogan also said recent upgrades to a border crossing with neighboring Georgia had recently been completed.

He also touted other recently completed projects in the fields of education, sports, and health.