Turkey said Tuesday it would press ahead with a controversial dam project in its southeast corner even though European lenders said they were withdrawing support for the scheme.
"Turkey would like to underline its determination on the construction of the Ilisu hydroelectric dam," the environment ministry said in a written statement.
The announcement came a few hours after German, Swiss and Austrian export guarantee agencies said Ankara had failed to meet the conditions set for the release of EUR1.2 billion worth of loan guarantees for the Ilisu project.
The Turkish statement said the decision on withdrawing support was "political" and went against the recommendation of experts for the release of the credit that was frozen in December.
Last week, Environment Minister Veysel Eroglu hinted that Turkey would build the dam and its 1,200-megawatt powerplant with its own money if the loan were not released.
The Ilisu Dam project, on the Tigris River some 45 kilometers from the Syrian border, has come under intense criticism for its impact on Hasankeyf, a small impoverished town parts of which will be flooded by dam waters.
Critics say the dam will destroy Hasankeyf's unique heritage that includes Assyrian, Roman and Ottoman monuments and displace an estimated 50,000 people.
Ankara says that the dam will generate 3.8 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually, contribute EUR300 million to the economy, create thousands of jobs, and irrigate vast areas of farmland.
Under the project, the government will compensate those dislocated by the project and build a new town for Hasankeyf residents.
The project also foresees the relocation of the monuments that would be flooded to a planned open-air museum nearby.