Ilisu Dam

The Ilisu Dam is part of the Southeastern Anatolian Project (GAP) and is currently the largest hydro-power project in Turkey. The dam is located on the Tigris river. The Southeastern Anatolian Project was set up to eliminate regional development disparities. In 1936 the Electric Studies Administration was founded to research how rivers could contribute to energy production. The Southeastern Anatolian Project as it is structured today was set up in the 1970s. Its projects are irrigation and energy projection on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Besides this, it grew out to be a multi-sector social and economic development plan for the region around the Euphrates and Tigris. The development plan included not only irrigation products and energy production, but also rural and urban infrastructure, education, and health. 

The Ilisu dam is currently Turkey’s largest dam project. While the original plan dates back to the 1950’s, the design was approved in 1982 and it opened this past year in July 2019. The region is mostly populated by people that are ethnically Kurdish. The design approval and construction took quite some time because of financial problems, protests, and limitations which are explained below.

The Ilisu Dam project was not only paid for by the Turkish Government and Turkish investors, but also by investors of other European banks. However, not all banks that had initially agreed to invest in the project eventually followed through. In August 2007, several European banks and three European Export Credit Agencies signed contracts with the Turkish government to approve guarantees worth half a billion euros at the end of March 2008 upon the meeting of 153 conditions tied to the contract's approval. In June 2009 it was clear that Turkey could not fulfill these conditions, and the ECA’s, as well as the European banks (issued by the governments of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland), cancelled the export credit guarantees. Turkish banks like Akbank and Garantibank had to provide additional finance in 2010 to sustain the project.

The European Parliament demanded in their February 2010 progress report that Turkey stop all work on the Ilisu Dam project. They simultaneously called upon the European Union to conduct a study on the impact of dams in the GAP project. In the extra resolution added to the 2014 project report, the European Parliament wrote that the Parliament regrets that the government decided to pursue the Ilisu Dam, which will have devastating social, environmental and political effects.

The construction and filling of the Ilisu Dam have raised tensions between Turkey and Syria and Iraq. Iraq relies on the Euphrates and Tigris for 98 percent of its water, and Turkey is blamed for a 40 percent decrease in water levels. The construction of the Ilisu Dam has reduced water flow to Iraq’s marshlands as well, which are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The marshes also produce food and provide water for the surrounding population. The Ilisu Dam is not the first dam that brings conflicts. When the Ataturk Dam was opened in 1992 the Prime Minister said: "The water that flows to Turkey from the Euphrates, Tigris and its tributaries is Turkish...We are not saying to Syria and Iraq that we share their oil resources...They have no right to say that they share our water resources."

This Story Map however focuses on the displacement of the population living near the Tigris River and Ilisu Dam. The region is densely inhabited by the Kurds. The Story Map will go in depth on this subject after discussing protests and controversies surrounding the dam, and the flooding at this time.

Hasankeyf is a 12,000 year old city with many monuments that will be flooded as a result of the filling of the Ilisu Dam. There are many sources that deal with the flooding of Hasankeyf as a historic place. A selection:

Save The Tigris already wrote about the challenges Hasankeyf is going to face in 2012. They go into the history of Hasankeyf and set up a petition to stop the building of the Ilisu Dam. This was all in vain. You can consult the source  here .

The Guardian talks about Hasankeyf as a place in history that can provide many answers about our past as a civilization. While some historical monuments have been moved, the foundation and many other monuments will flood. You can consult the source  here .

Germany-based organization RiverWatch has posted a blogpost of one of their team members visiting Hasankeyf for the last time. It is a heartfelt post that tries to find out how this can happen in with the 21st century knowledge we have. RiverWatch's motto is "Rivers Unite, Dams Divide" You can read the blogpost  here .

American news sources also write about Hasankeyf as a heritage site and the displacement of its residents. CBS News for instance describes what was happening in the first months of 2019, and mention that half a million people visited the village in the past year to see it before it is flooded. You can consult the source  here .

All these western sources have in common that they speak of Hasankeyf as a landmark and that it is a disaster that it will be flooded. While many sources go in depth about the rich architectural history, some sources also reflect on the displacement of the people of Hasankeyf and surrounding villages, and what this means for these people.

Many people protested the Ilisu Dam in the past few years. There was an international action to  jump in the water  for Hasankeyf, and many people marched for Hasankeyf. There was also a protest in which villagers blocked a  bridge  and a protest in which international protesters blocked the  construction site.  There were many worldwide petitions to stop the building and later the filling of the Ilisu Dam but this was all in vain. People protested against the Ilisu Dam for many reasons like  endangered species  and other ecological reasons, displacement, the loss of archaeological sites, and the reduction in water quality.

Despite the many  (international) protests  and an initial postponement, the filling of the Ilisu Dam has started in July 2019.

The Turkish Government is aware of all the controversies surrounding the dam and has denied the accusations on their official  website  and write about all the benefits the Ilisu Dam will bring the area.

 The Kurds  are one of the indigenous peoples of the Mesopotamian plains and the highlands in what are now south-eastern Turkey, north-eastern Syria, northern Iraq, north-western Iran and south-western Armenia. Most of the population in the areas affected by the Ilisu Dam is Kurdish.

When the Ottoman Empire shattered into different countries, the Kurds became a minority in a the above mentioned counties. They were promised an independent Kurdistan by western powers, but when the boundaries of modern day Turkey were drawn in 1923, Kurdistan was left out. Turkey has had a frictional relationship with the Kurds over the past century.

Alexandra Marvar of  Nation  and John Philipp of  Stratfor  both argue that the Ilisu Dam is a weapon against the Kurds, but also a weapon that can be used against downstream countries when needed.

Environmental engineer Ercan Ayboga sees the Ilisu Dam as an assimilation method. The consequences of the dam force the Kurds to other areas and larger cities. It splits communities and diffuses the culture. The Turkish government has direct control over the Kurds because they can orchestrate where the population can resettle. 

However, settlement has not been properly planned. As of June many people have been leaving the soon to be affected area but there are no other cities prepared to take in settlers. While in some areas new land has been assigned to the displaced population, this is often to expensive to afford. The monetary compensation is often lower than the new housing option. That is if you are one of the families lucky enough to even receive a compensation. Marvar mentions a family that has not been offered a replacement home or compensation, while they even were forced to sell some of their land for little money to make way for a new location called "New Hasankeyf". This village is a mile away but higher up than Hasankeyf. A new resident says that "the gray houses, laid out like a barracks, erased the sense of the community that had been built in old Hasankeyf."

85 villages are at the risk of being completely flooded as the Ilisu Dam begins to fill up. With varying populations, villages have been forced to relocation centers, some which have not been entirely completed. Most, if not all of these villages, are majority Kurdish populations.