CAMPAIGN: ILISU DAMN

Local consultation has been minimal and locals are far too frightened to speak out against the Turkish government. Independent monitoring has been suggested but this does not look promising either. In August 1999, the head of the Turkish dam building industry told Channel 4 that "Just because we are borrowing money doesn’t mean that international creditors … should have a final say on how people live or what we should do about it … this is something we will not accept."

Turkey's record on resettlement schemes is appalling. The laws which do exist are largely flauted. For instance, the main benefactors when the Ataturk dam was built were large landowners. The poor received little if anything.

It is Archeologically Wrong!

Hasankeyf is a treasure chest of archeology with some remains dating back 10,000 years. This wonderful, ancient city has been occupied by nine major civiliations stretching through history from the Assyrians to the Ottomans. Some of the cave dwellings, still in use, are of particular interest but there is so much as yet undiscoved at Hasankeyf that archeological experts suggest that another 50-60 years of work could usefully be done there.

Although Turkey has not applied to UNESCO to get this city designated as a site of world importance - probably because its ancestory is not considered 'Turkish' - they were quite willing to acknowledge the "rich history and cultural heritage" of the region in one of their tour guides.

It is Religiously Wrong!

As a holy site, Hasankeyf also has extreme significance.It holds the tomb of the holy Imam Abdullah, grandson of Cafer-I Tayyar, the prophet Mohammed’s uncle and attracts approximately 30,000 pilgrims a year. The idea of drowning a site like this is almost equivalent building a dam that floods Jerusalem.

It is Environmentally Wrong!

Of course there are the immediate effects: loss of land, farms, forests and valleys. Three hundred square km in all. Then there are the less obvious impacts. A river like Tigris carries carries a huge amunt of silt, rich in nutrients, which creates fertility in the agricultural lands downsteam. Block this off and you merely get a backlog of this silt building up behind the dam, interferring with the proper functioning of the dam itself and reducing the levels of 'useful' water in the reservoir.

Dams can also effect water quality - concentrating pollutants, increasing or depleting oxygen levels and changing the water temperature. All of these

Go To Page: 1 2 3

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic