The project has come under intense criticism because it means parts of Hasankeyf, a small and poor town on the banks of the Tigris that was an important center in Mesopotamian times, will disappear under water.

Turkey has said it plans to relocate the artifacts and monuments from Hasankeyf, the only area in the region dating from the Middle Ages.

The dam’s foreign backers proved “slippery,” Environment Minister Veysel Eroğlu said. Austria, Germany and Switzerland canceled 450 million euros of state export-loan guarantees in July because Turkey’s plans to resettle towns and safeguard artifacts and the local environment were deemed insufficient.

The minister denied claims that people presently living in Ilısu village would be transferred to another location. “We have rebuilt Ilısu village. It was a run-down village and we are now building villas inside gardens,” said Eroğlu.

The government needs as much as 350 million euros in loans to complete financing for the project and expects to reach an agreement with three Turkish banks in mid-January, Eroğlu told reporters in Ankara.

He said Turkey needs the dam and that its construction is a certainty. Eroğlu said Hasankeyf will be saved and will become an attraction center for tourists.

When asked which banks would provide the loans, the minister said the negations are ongoing and that he is not a party to the matter – only the Treasury is. “I will disclose the details when they are clear.”

The Ilısu Dam project dates back 52 years but its construction started only three years ago under Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. When construction is completed, the dam would be one of the biggest in Turkey.