The Atatürk Dam, originally the Karababa Dam, is a zoned rock-fill dam with a central core on the Euphrates River on the border of Adıyaman Province and Şanlıurfa Province in Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. Built both to generate electricity and to irrigate the plains in the region, it was renamed in honour of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881–1938), the founder of the Turkish Republic.
The construction began in 1983 and was completed in 1990. The dam and the hydroelectric power plant, which went into service after the upfilling of reservoir was accomplished in 1992, are operated by the State Hydraulic Works (DSİ). The reservoir created behind the dam, called Lake Atatürk Dam (Turkish: Atatürk Baraj Gölü), is the third largest in Turkey.
The dam is situated at 24 km (15 mi) northwest to Bozova town of Şanlıurfa Province on the state road D.875 to Adıyaman. Centerpiece of the 22 dams on the Euphrates and the Tigris, which all form the integrated, multi-sector regional development project of Southeastern Anatolia Project, known as GAP, it is one of the world's largest dams.
The Atatürk Dam, one of the five operational dams on the Euphrates as of 2008, is preceded by Keban and Karakaya dams upstream and followed by Birecik and the Karkamış dams downstream. Two more dams on the river are under construction.
The dam embankment is 169 m (554 ft) high and 1,820 m (5,970 ft) long. The hydroelectric power plant (HEPP) has a total installed power capacity of 2,400 MW generating 8,900 GWh electricity annually. The total cost of the dam project amounted about US$ 1.25 billion.
The dam was depicted on the reverse of the Turkish one million lira banknotes of 1995-2005 and of the 1 new lira banknote of 2005-2009.
Note from ataturk dam
