Turkey will launch the first turbine in Ilisu Dam in southeast Turkey next week, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Monday following a weekly cabinet meeting.
"We will start operating one of six turbines of Ilısu Dam, one of the largest irrigation and energy projects in our country, on May 19," Erdoğan said in a speech to the public.
The dam, approved by the Turkish government in 1997 to generate electricity for the region.
The Ilısu Dam will generate 1,200 megawatts of electricity, making it Turkey's fourth-largest dam in terms of energy production.
