Press Releases
Artists in Istanbul took stage for Hasankeyf!
On June 25, 2019 more than 23 artists took the stage in solidarity with Hasankeyf. The event was organized by the Initiative to Keep Hasankeyf Alive.
Read the article on the event published by Bianet on June 26, 2019:
Solidarity concert in Istanbul for Hasankeyf
This noon in the Avcılar district of İstanbul a solidarity concert with Hasankeyf has been organized. Two groups called Grup Gerduni and Seyr-î Cem took the initiative and invited people and organizations…
Globally 35 actions for Hasankeyf – Ilisu Dam filling postponed!
Just two days after the 3rd Global Days of Action for Hasankeyf, on 10th June 2019, the news spread that the filling of the Ilisu Dam reservoir has been postponed. The responsible state agency DSI (State Hydraulic Works) declared to several media agencies that due to high river flow at the Ilisu dam site and uncompleted construction work in Hasankeyf and for roads in the affected region, the filling would be done later, probably in July. Read the rest of this entry »
The Ilisu Dam: a critical juncture: Open Letter to Jeremy Hunt MP
Rt. Hon. Jeremy Hunt MP
Foreign Secretary
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
King Charles Street
Whitehall
London SW1A 2AH
10 June 2019
Dear Foreign Secretary,
The Ilisu Dam: a critical juncture
Pictures from the 3rd Global Action Day for Hasankeyf
Here you can find many pictures from the 3rd Global Action held on June 7 and 8 in many cities around the world. More pictures you can find under the hashtag #SaveHasankeyf and #HasankeyfİçinGeçDeğil shared by our Twitter account @hasankeyfdicle.
Hasankeyf Read the rest of this entry »
Call for 3rd Global Hasankeyf Action Day on June 7-8, 2019!
18.05.2019 [Spanish and Italien below]
We call on social movements, NGO’s, activists and others in the world to join the 3rd Global Day of Action for the defense of the 12,000 year old town Hasankeyf and the Tigris River on June 7 and 8th, 2019! It is urgent because the Turkish government announced recently that on 10th June 2019 it will start filling the Ilisu Dam reservoir. Read the rest of this entry »
Urgent Int’l Call: Save Hasankeyf! No filling of the Ilisu Dam Reservoir!
+++ International Urgent Call to Turkish Government and International Public +++
It‘s not too late to SAVE HASANKEYF and Tigris River!
No filling of the Ilisu Dam Reservoir!
For 12.000 years, Hasankeyf in the Southeast of Turkey has been a site of uninterrupted human settlement. With the labour of dozen of cultures this outstanding universal site has been created on the banks of the Tigris River and adjacent small valleys and hills. Recent excavations show that Hasankeyf lays atop of a deep, uncovered cultural heritage. Independent researchers state that Hasankeyf and the surrounding Tigris Valley are as important historically as Ephesus, Troy and Cappadocia and fulfill 9 out of the 10 UNESCO criteria for a World Heritage Site. It is assumed that Hasankeyf is the twin of Göbeklitepe, a sanctuary site 225 km to the west with a similar age, which led to global new conclusions on history’s first human settlement. Read the rest of this entry »
Final Declaration of Mesopotamia Ecology Movement: Water is under assault in Mesopotamia
University of Sulaimani, Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region of Iraq 6-8 April 2019
Over-extraction; the draining of marshes and wetlands; deforestation; too many irrigation projects, poorly-drained land; pesticides and fertiliser run-off; contamination by poorly or often un-treated discharges from industry as well as households; the widespread building of large and cascade small dams; the increasing exploitation of groundwater aquifers; stream channelization; inter catchment water transfer schemes; and the ravages of fossil-fuel-induced climatic change have variously disrupted hydrological cycles and created conditions of severe local and regional scarcity. For human and non-human beings, such physical scarcities have been exacerbated by policies aimed at commodifying and/or politicising water, denying access to the common good of water.
PR: Disaster Flood in the Tigris – Made by a Turkish Dam
On the evening of the 13th December 2018 one of the three spillway gates of the Dicle Dam at the Tigris River in Turkish-Kurdistan has broken. Since then the water level in more than 200 km downstream river stretch increased up to 6 meters and flooded a big area of land along the river with hundreds of affected settlements. Fortunately nobody died, but the physical and agricultural destruction is enormous and unique for the last decades.
Read the rest of this entry »
Bresser’s conduct in last year’s relocation of the Zeynel Bey Tomb did not comply with OECD Guidelines
*** The Initiative to Keep Hasankeyf Alive *** Hasankeyf Matters *** FIVAS – The Association for International Water Studies ***
Press Release, 20 August 2018
Summary
The Dutch NCP for the OECD Guidelines has concluded that Bresser, a small to medium-size Dutch enterprise, has not fully met the expectations and satisfied the due diligence criteria of the OECD Guidelines.” in the project to relocate the Zeynel Bey Tomb, in Hasankeyf, in Southeastern Turkey. The tomb is a late-15th-century monument of extraordinary cultural value and a symbol of the rich cultural heritage of the region. Its relocation impacts the human right to culture of the affected people. Companies of all sizes are expected to consider and minimize the potential impact of their activities on human rights.
Impoundment of Ilisu Dam Reservoir has not yet started – Drought in Iraq has other reasons
Initiative to Keep Hasankeyf Alive +++ Hasankeyf Matters
Press statement, 11.06.2018
On June 1, 2018 news began to circulate that the impoundment of the reservoir of the controversial Ilisu Dam on the Tigris River in the Kurdish Southeast of the Republic of Turkey had started. The Turkish State Water Works (DSI) announced that with the closing of the first valves of the three diversion tunnels the filling of the reservoir had begun. This development overlapped with urgent news from Iraq, where the Tigris River had fallen to historically low levels. This situation has resulted in discussions that have become even more urgent in Iraq than discussion of the recent elections.
Read the rest of this entry »
Open Letter to UK Prime Minister Theresa May
by: Mesopotamian Ecology Movement +++ Initiative to Keep Hasankeyf Alive +++ The Corner House +++ Peace in Kurdistan Campaign
to:Rt Hon. Theresa May MP
Prime Minister
10 Downing Street, London, SW1A 2AA
The Ilisu Dam and Turkey’s use of water as a weapon of war
April 28, 2018
In 30 cities actions for Hasankeyf and Sur
+++ Plattform Nein zur Zerstörun von Sur +++ Istanbul Sur Solidaritätsplattform +++ Ökologiebewegung Mesopotamiens +++ Initiative zur Rettung von Hasankeyf +++ Rat Munzur soll frei fließen +++
Diyarbakir (Amed), 28.04.2018
Knapp 30 Städte weltweit beteiligen sich am Globalen Aktionstag für Sur und Hasankeyf am 28. April 2018
Open letter to DSI: Forced eviction of Hasankeyf merchants would violate the universal right to work
*** The Initiative to Keep Hasankeyf Alive *** Hasankeyf Matters *** Fivas – The Association for International Water Studies *** The Corner House *** Riverwatch ***
OPEN LETTER
RE: Forced eviction of Hasankeyf merchants would violate the universal right to work
5 March 2018
To:
Mr. Murat Acu, General Director, State Hydraulic Works (DSI)
Mr. Ali Naci Kösalı, Region 16 Director, State Hydraulic Works (DSI)
Mr. Şehmus Erkan Dursun, Hasankeyf Branch Director, State Hydraulic Works (DSI)