Turkey Blocks Construction of Power Plant

Turkey has blocked construction of a 660 megawatt electric power plant in the Black Sea province of Samsun for environmental reasons, two sources with information on the matter said on Tuesday.

Mining and energy ompany TIM Avrasya's project will receive a negative environmental impact assessment report, one of the sources, a senior official from the environment ministry, told Reuters.

"Our assessment showed that the plant, which would run on coal, would cause sea pollution and would also have negative impact on tourism," the official said.

A lawyer for the company, Yaprak Guryel, said the decision had not yet been issued to TIM Avrasya.

The project was expected to cost between $450 and $600 million, the company has said.

"We don't think the decision is based on technical reasons. Similar examples with more potential hazard have been granted permission. It may be a political decision. We will make out evaluation once we are handed the documents," Guryel told Reuters.

(Reporting by Ercan Gurses and Ece Toksabay)