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Turkey's peace pipe to Cyprus

The water pipeline slated to reunify Cyprus faces strong opposition on environmental, cultural and political fronts from both Greek and Turkish Cypriots.
A family takes a stroll next to a reservoir in Myrtoy that will receive fresh water from Turkey via a water pipeline project linking Turkey to northern Cyprus Oct 17 2015. The 106-kilometre (66-mile) pipeline will transport some 75 million cubic metres (2.6 billion cubic feet) of water annually to northern Cyprus, a breakaway Turkish Cypriot state recognized only by Ankara. Cyprus suffers from frequent droughts. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou - RTS4V5V

On Oct. 17, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan inaugurated a controversial water pipeline link with Turkish-governed northern Cyprus. He gave a speech about the $450 million project first in the Anamur district of Mersin where the water pipeline originates, and then he traveled to Kyrenia, the tourism capital of Turkish northern Cyprus.

The project, known as Peace Water, is being promoted as the “project of the century” by the Turkish government. Erdogan emphasized, “If the Greek Cypriots say that they also want to utilize this water, we name this water Peace Water and we give it to them too, because the important thing for us is the humanity.”

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