“As a photographer my goal is to cover all aspects of life on the island of Cyprus and events that have a significant impact on the country. The progress of the Water Pipeline from Turkey is a project I began to follow attentively from its beginnings in 2011. The work below is my documentation of the Project in the second half of its development (2013-2015).”
1. EARLY STAGES OF THE PROJECT: INFRASTRUCTURE & LAND DEVELOPMENT (2013-2015)
Development of the pipeline project infrastructure: laying out of the inland pipes along the road, distribution lines, network for irrigation; early construction on the dam which began in 2012 and Panagra reservoir wall; pumping station and drinking water treatment plant; a beach close to Vasilia village where the underwater pipes emerge from sub-sea, and connect to pumping station; rock quarried from the mountains (wavebreakers).
2. INAUGURATION CEREMONY OF TREATMENT PLANT (2014)
Attended by officials from the AKP Government of the Republic of Turkey, including Turkey’s Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Taner Yıldız and Beşir Atalay, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey. Also present were officials of the unrecognized and illegal ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ (“TRNC”), the so-called:
‘President’ of “TRNC” Derviş Eroğlu; Dr. Hamit Bakırcı, ‘Minister’ of Environment for “TRNC”; Serdar Denktaş (party leader and son of Rauf Denktaş, former ‘President’ of the “TRNC”), and the Turkish Ambassador to “TRNC”, among others.
• Tags: representatives from DSI (General Directorate of State Hydraulic Work, Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs, Republic of Turkey), green color (Islam).
3. COASTLINE "DEVELOPMENT" AND CONSTRUCTION - VIDEO (2015)
4. ARRIVAL OF WATER FROM TURKEY - VIDEO (2015)
5. OFFICIAL OPENING CEREMONY AND INAUGURATION OF THE PROJECT (2015)
The official Pipeline opening ceremony took place at the pipeline’s Panagra dam in Kyrenia, on the 17 October, 2105 in the occupied area of Cyprus.
The project was inaugurated by the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Minister of Forestry and Water Affairs, Veysel Eroğlu, and his DSI team, architects, engineers, the contracting company and the workers who had contributed to the project; AKP Party representatives and other government ministers and deputies were also present at the opening ceremony.
Officials of the unrecognized ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ included the “TRNC”s so-called: ‘President’ Mustafa Akıncı, ‘Prime Minister’ Ömer Soyer Kalyoncu, former ‘PM’ Sibel Siber, and others.
• Tags: celebrations; Mustafa Kemal Atatürk; cult of personality; TMT commanders; AKP logos, balloons & pipeline brochures; US-issued M16 assault rifles; green color (Islam); ‘rabia’ hand sign (gesture used by both the public & Erdoğan; in the President’s case signifying, among other things, “One nation, one flag, one homeland, one state”).
ANDREAS MANOLIS is an full-time independent press photo-reporter. He was born in 1953 in the town of Limassol in Cyprus. In 1975 he began working professionally, and became a staff photographer for the Phileleftheros Newspaper in 1980. Through his career he has worked in Cyprus and abroad. As a reporter he has covered stories around the eastern Mediterranean area and beyond, and he has documented events from Athens to Kosovo. His work abroad specialized in news stories, crisis and conflict events of the region, including Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Iran and Iran.
His work in Cyprus over the years includes news and feature stories that cover all aspects of life on the island, politics, its leaders, the environment, life stories and political events that impact the country daily. Today he has an on-staff collaboration with Antenna News Cyprus, and is a freelance contributor to Phileleftheros Newspaper and other local news media outlets.