Insurers have suspended their support for a controversial dam project in southeastern Turkey amid concern about its environmental and cultural impact. Export credit insurers in Austria, Germany and Switzerland said on Tuesday they had told suppliers to suspend work on the Ilisu dam on the Tigris river. They are giving Ankara 180 days to meet standards set by the World Bank. The ancient Hasankeyf fortress is in the area that would be flooded and more than 50,000 people would have to move. The hydroelectric project near Turkey's borders with Syria and Iraq is part of a scheme to develop the mainly Kurdish region, which has suffered for decades from poverty, neglect and conflict. Environmentalists say the dam would destroy archaeological treasures, including Roman remains. The dam consortium plans to create a culture park on the edge of the reservoir and transfer key monuments from Hasankeyf there. [...]