Under contract from Turkey's State Hydraulic Works, İLCİ Holding A.Ş began construction on the dam in 2008 and it was completed in November 2012.

[2] The reported purpose of the dam is water storage for drinking supply and it can also support a 2.4 MW hydroelectric power station in the future.

The pipeline is expected to be complete in 2014 and the water treatment should be operational in 2015.

[4] Another purpose of the dam which has been widely report in the Turkish press is to reduce the freedom of movement of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants.

Blocking and flooding valleys in close proximity to the Iraq–Turkey border is expected to help curb cross-border PKK smuggling and deny caves to which ammunition can be stored in.