Chapter 9
Exploring Environmental Justice:
Meaningful Participation and Turkey’s
Small-Scale Hydroelectricity Power
Plants Practices
R. Caner Sayan and Ayşegül Kibaroğlu
Abstract This chapter explores the emerging concept of meaningful participation
within the framework of environmental justice, with specific reference to Turkey’s
recent experience of building several small-scale hydroelectricity power plants
(HEPP). The paper scrutinizes the HEPP process, including its entrenched legal
framework, and attempts to come up with suggestions to elaborate further on the
concept of meaningful participation.
Keywords Environmental justice Á Meaningful participation Á Small-scale
hydroelectricity power plants Á Turkey
9.1 Introduction
Turkey has traditionally identified its hydroelectricity potential as one of its key
national energy sources and has been constructing dams and reservoirs to harness
this potential. Throughout its history, constructions of mega-dams, particularly on
the Tigris and Euphrates rivers as a part of the South-eastern Anatolia Project
(Turkish acronym: GAP) enabled Turkey to generate electricity and implement a
regional development programme based on hydro-constructions; however, they
were also criticized due to their social, cultural and environmental impacts on local
communities, cultural and historical heritage and local habitats in south-east
Turkey. Such criticisms are still arising, particularly in the case of the construction
of Ilısu Dam in the same region (Ilhan, 2009).
Since the 1980s, when neoliberal policies started to dominate world politics,
Turkey has introduced neoliberal notions to its economy (Boratav, 2012). Water
management and the energy sector emerged as the first sectors which have been
Dr. R. Caner Sayan, United Nations Unitersity Institute for Water, Environment and Health
(UNU-INWEH), Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. e-mail: canersayan@gmail.com.
Dr. Ayşegül Kibaroğlu, Professor, Chair of the Department of Political Science and International
Relations, MEF University, Istanbul, Turkey. e-mail: aysegul.kibaroglu@mef.edu.tr.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Z. Savaşan and V. Sümer (eds.), Environmental Law and Policies in Turkey,
The Anthropocene: Politik—Economics—Society—Science 31,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36483-0_9
141
Exploring Environmental Justice:
Meaningful Participation and Turkey’s
Small-Scale Hydroelectricity Power
Plants Practices
R. Caner Sayan and Ayşegül Kibaroğlu
Abstract This chapter explores the emerging concept of meaningful participation
within the framework of environmental justice, with specific reference to Turkey’s
recent experience of building several small-scale hydroelectricity power plants
(HEPP). The paper scrutinizes the HEPP process, including its entrenched legal
framework, and attempts to come up with suggestions to elaborate further on the
concept of meaningful participation.
Keywords Environmental justice Á Meaningful participation Á Small-scale
hydroelectricity power plants Á Turkey
9.1 Introduction
Turkey has traditionally identified its hydroelectricity potential as one of its key
national energy sources and has been constructing dams and reservoirs to harness
this potential. Throughout its history, constructions of mega-dams, particularly on
the Tigris and Euphrates rivers as a part of the South-eastern Anatolia Project
(Turkish acronym: GAP) enabled Turkey to generate electricity and implement a
regional development programme based on hydro-constructions; however, they
were also criticized due to their social, cultural and environmental impacts on local
communities, cultural and historical heritage and local habitats in south-east
Turkey. Such criticisms are still arising, particularly in the case of the construction
of Ilısu Dam in the same region (Ilhan, 2009).
Since the 1980s, when neoliberal policies started to dominate world politics,
Turkey has introduced neoliberal notions to its economy (Boratav, 2012). Water
management and the energy sector emerged as the first sectors which have been
Dr. R. Caner Sayan, United Nations Unitersity Institute for Water, Environment and Health
(UNU-INWEH), Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. e-mail: canersayan@gmail.com.
Dr. Ayşegül Kibaroğlu, Professor, Chair of the Department of Political Science and International
Relations, MEF University, Istanbul, Turkey. e-mail: aysegul.kibaroglu@mef.edu.tr.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Z. Savaşan and V. Sümer (eds.), Environmental Law and Policies in Turkey,
The Anthropocene: Politik—Economics—Society—Science 31,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-36483-0_9
141