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Turkey revives controversial dam project
ArmRadio.am
11.08.2006 16:41
Turkey has revived plans for a dam that will force more than 50,000
people from their homes and destroy the priceless remains of
Hasankeyf, one of the oldest towns in the world.
The Ilisu project was abandoned four years ago when the British
construction company Balfour Beatty pulled out after a campaign
against the dam backed by environmentalists and archaeologists.
But, in a decision that will be greeted as a disaster by the
inhabitants of Hasankeyf and the villages around them, the Turkish
Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has said the Ilisu project is
back on, after a consortium headed by an Austrian company agreed to
build it.
Most of the 50,000 people who will lose their homes are members of
Turkey's Kurdish minority, who have endured decades of repression at
the hands of Turkish governments. At one time, even speaking the
Kurdish language was illegal.
Hasankeyf is one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited
settlements. It survived 15 years trapped in the middle of the bloody
civil war between Turkish security forces and Kurdish separatists,
only to face annihilation now by the dam.
The Ilisu dam is part of the South-East Anatolia Project (GAP), a
series of 22 dams on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers to provide
irrigation and hydroelectric power. Mr Erdogan said the government
will safeguard the historical treasures of Hasankeyf from the dam.
But since most of Hasankeyf is carved from rock, archaeologists agree
it is impossible to protect it from the flooding.
At most, 20 per cent of what is "culturally valuable" could be saved,
said Professor Olus Arik, the former head of excavations at Hasankeyf.
Turkey has also promised to resettle those who are displaced and pay
them adequate compensation. But when the Ataturk dam was finished in
1990, 50,000 people were displaced, none of . whom received any money
from the government. When the Birecik dam was being finished in 1999,
the government pledged to do better. But payments were delayed and
many of the displaced woke up to find water pouring into their homes
because they did not have the money to buy a new house in time.
The government also failed to allow for the devaluation of the Turkish
lira, leaving the displaced with next to nothing. The area along the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers is considered the cradle of
civilisation. With many of the remains along the rivers in Iraq feared
damaged in the fighting, GAP is threatening those on the Turkish side
of the border.
As the Birecik dam was being completed, archaeologists excavating the
ancient city of Zeugma, which was to be flooded, found mosaics
considered to rival the finest in the world. They begged the Turkish
authorities to delay filling the dam so they could save the
mosaics. The authorities delayed by only one week, and many mosaics
were lost.
A consortium of international companies headed by Austria's VA Tech
Hydro is seeking export credit guarantees from the Austrian, Swiss and
German governments to build Ilisu.
History submerged
* 10,000-8000BC First settlement built at Hasankeyf
* 1978 Hasankeyf declared area of historical importance by the Turkish
government
* 1982 Turkey decides to build Ilisu dam at a site that will submerge
Hasankeyf
* 1990 Atuturk dam, the biggest in the South-East Anatolia Project, is
completed; 50,000 are displaced, with nocompensation
* March 1999 UK Government considers £200m export credit guarantees
for Balfour Beatty
* Summer 1999 Ancient mosaics at Zeugma, an ancient city are lost to
the Birecik dam
* December 1999 British Government says it is "minded" to grant
Balfour Beatty the export credit guarantees after Tony Blair overrules
cabinet opposition
* November 2001 Balfour Beatty pulls out because the dam fails to meet
ethical, environmental or commercial criteria
* August 2006 Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, says a new
consortium has been found to build Ilisu dam.
ArmRadio.am
11.08.2006 16:41
Turkey has revived plans for a dam that will force more than 50,000
people from their homes and destroy the priceless remains of
Hasankeyf, one of the oldest towns in the world.
The Ilisu project was abandoned four years ago when the British
construction company Balfour Beatty pulled out after a campaign
against the dam backed by environmentalists and archaeologists.
But, in a decision that will be greeted as a disaster by the
inhabitants of Hasankeyf and the villages around them, the Turkish
Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has said the Ilisu project is
back on, after a consortium headed by an Austrian company agreed to
build it.
Most of the 50,000 people who will lose their homes are members of
Turkey's Kurdish minority, who have endured decades of repression at
the hands of Turkish governments. At one time, even speaking the
Kurdish language was illegal.
Hasankeyf is one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited
settlements. It survived 15 years trapped in the middle of the bloody
civil war between Turkish security forces and Kurdish separatists,
only to face annihilation now by the dam.
The Ilisu dam is part of the South-East Anatolia Project (GAP), a
series of 22 dams on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers to provide
irrigation and hydroelectric power. Mr Erdogan said the government
will safeguard the historical treasures of Hasankeyf from the dam.
But since most of Hasankeyf is carved from rock, archaeologists agree
it is impossible to protect it from the flooding.
At most, 20 per cent of what is "culturally valuable" could be saved,
said Professor Olus Arik, the former head of excavations at Hasankeyf.
Turkey has also promised to resettle those who are displaced and pay
them adequate compensation. But when the Ataturk dam was finished in
1990, 50,000 people were displaced, none of . whom received any money
from the government. When the Birecik dam was being finished in 1999,
the government pledged to do better. But payments were delayed and
many of the displaced woke up to find water pouring into their homes
because they did not have the money to buy a new house in time.
The government also failed to allow for the devaluation of the Turkish
lira, leaving the displaced with next to nothing. The area along the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers is considered the cradle of
civilisation. With many of the remains along the rivers in Iraq feared
damaged in the fighting, GAP is threatening those on the Turkish side
of the border.
As the Birecik dam was being completed, archaeologists excavating the
ancient city of Zeugma, which was to be flooded, found mosaics
considered to rival the finest in the world. They begged the Turkish
authorities to delay filling the dam so they could save the
mosaics. The authorities delayed by only one week, and many mosaics
were lost.
A consortium of international companies headed by Austria's VA Tech
Hydro is seeking export credit guarantees from the Austrian, Swiss and
German governments to build Ilisu.
History submerged
* 10,000-8000BC First settlement built at Hasankeyf
* 1978 Hasankeyf declared area of historical importance by the Turkish
government
* 1982 Turkey decides to build Ilisu dam at a site that will submerge
Hasankeyf
* 1990 Atuturk dam, the biggest in the South-East Anatolia Project, is
completed; 50,000 are displaced, with nocompensation
* March 1999 UK Government considers £200m export credit guarantees
for Balfour Beatty
* Summer 1999 Ancient mosaics at Zeugma, an ancient city are lost to
the Birecik dam
* December 1999 British Government says it is "minded" to grant
Balfour Beatty the export credit guarantees after Tony Blair overrules
cabinet opposition
* November 2001 Balfour Beatty pulls out because the dam fails to meet
ethical, environmental or commercial criteria
* August 2006 Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, says a new
consortium has been found to build Ilisu dam.