Keban Dam
Discrimination in Disguise
Keban Dam: History and Background
The Keban Dam is a hydroelectric dam built in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. It's purpose was to increase Turkey’s electric resources by 2/3 and add $200 Million to the GNP by converting the area "from a drain on Turkey’s economy to a major asset” for the country.
Traveling along the Euphrates River, it was built on porous limestone cliffs full of caves. Engineers working on the project compared the foundation to “swiss cheese.” Because of this, building plans were changed 3 times and millions of tons of concrete had to be injected to the site to stabilize the foundation.
Completed in 1974, after 8 years of construction and a cost of $331 million, the dam cost twice as much as originally expected; partly because of safety concerns.
The World Bank refused to provide loans because Turkey did not comply with the international standards, so Turkey had to look elsewhere for funding. They received loans from the United States, Germany, France, Italy, International Development Association, and the European Investment Bank.
ArcGIS allowed us to layer satellite images on top of each other and swipe back and forth to see changes in one area over time. By clicking the button below, you can view the map. Move the mouse from right to left to see the changes in flooding after the Keban dam was built in 1974.
The dark black area on the second satellite image below is water that flooded the area to form the Keban reservoir.
These satellite images show a starkly different landscape. What they don’t show us is the two cities that were divided by the reservoir, the villages that became submerged beneath the flood waters and the 30,000 villagers that were forced to relocate...
Divided Landscape
The map below shows the differences in topography between the two areas, Tunceli and Elazig. To the south, Elazig has a mostly Turkish-speaking, Sunni Muslim population. To the north, Tunceli is mountainous; making it difficult to access by road. It has a majority Kurdish population. Data and imagery for this area is limited and controversial.
Is the Keban dam a manifestation of the Turkish Government’s paranoia and discrimination against the Kurdish population in Tunceli?
Economic Impact
Pre-Dam Hopes and Proposals
Post-Dam Actualities: Elazig
Tunceli
- Still the least developed province in the region
- Reservoir flooded many valleys, destroying the livelihoods of many Kurdish Pastoralists and forced many nomadic pastoralists to become sedentary
- Tunceli is a mountainous region that was difficult to access to begin with; the reservoir effectively cut off many of the towns from the south and made them only accessible by ferries
- Accessibility issues can really limit economic opportunities, which I think is one reason that Tunceli was left behind and exacerbated economic inequalities
Economic Maps
This map shows the percentage of Turkey’s GDP coming from Elazig and Tunceli in 1979, five years after the Keban dam was completed. One of the goals of the dam was to add $200 million to Turkey’s GNP. But, if the dam had been an immediate economic success and promoted development, then the GDP coming from these regions would be higher than .87% from Elazig and .16% from Tunceli.
Tunceli is still considered the least developed province in the region, but has a higher GDP per capita than Elazig and the other surrounding provinces.
The Turkish Government has recently been promoting “Invest Tunceli,” offering tax and other incentives for developers and industries to move to Tunceli.
Electricity Generation
The Keban Dam was supposed to increase Turkey’s electric resources by ⅔.
It is widely believed by the local people that the electricity generated at the Keban dam goes to industry in Western Turkey. During the first five years, the dam was generating 504 MW of electricity (i.e. 56 per cent of its total generation capacity), 400 MW of which was transmitted to western Turkey. In the past the dam had the potential to generate ¼ of all the electricity produced in Turkey.
However, recently the dam has been silting up which reduces electricity generation. Local people believe that one reason the new dams that have or are in the process of being built in Eastern Turkey, like the Ilisu Dam, are meant to supplement the electricity generated by other less efficient dams in the area and be sent to Western Turkey.
Manifestation of Turkish Government Discrimination
Dersim has always had a majority Kurdish-population, with their own autonomous government, social, and economic life.
In the 1920's and 30's, the Kurdish population in this area repeatedly rose up against the Turkish Government. The Central Turkish government was still relatively new and fragile. In an effort to solidify their power, the government launched an aerial bombing campaign that destroyed nearly a third of the villages in the province. The government forcibly evacuated many of the survivors to Western Turkey and began “Turkicizing” the area, rewriting its Kurdish identity.
One of the first things they did was change the area’s name to Tunceli. Relations did seem like they might be improving for a while, but then during a 1960's coup, the new National Chief remarked:
“There are no Kurds in this country. Whoever says he is a Kurd, I will spit in his face.”
In 2008, “The Principles of the State Development Programmes in Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia” was disclosed. The report was prepared in 1961, several years before construction on the Keban Dam began, and outlined policies for the predominantly Kurdish provinces.
There were three main strategies:
- -Transforming the existing social structure’ in Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia by ‘assimilating those who feel they are Kurdish.”
* A large part of this was completed using cultural propaganda and building schools to teach Turkish.
-Changing the population structure’ in this region by procuring the ‘densification of Turks’ so that they could gradually ‘outweigh those who feel they are Kurds’.
*“Invest in Tunceli”.
-Increasing the income of the region and appropriately redistributing it in order to overcome the ‘neglect of the region’.
* The Keban Dam's stated purpose was to convert the “bleak and backward area of Eastern Anatolia from a drain on Turkey’s economy to a major asset” even though it did not originally stimulate economic development and only further exacerbated inequalities in Tunceli.
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)
The Keban Dam is a representation of the Turkish Government’s position towards Kurdish militant groups like the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
In the 1990s, it is believed that the Turkish Government was burning large sections of Tunceli’s national forests because the militant groups could hide in them.
The Keban reservoir essentially cut off Tunceli and made the area primarily accessible by ferry. Through a series of checkpoints on the Tunceli side of the dam, ferry passengers are asked for ID to cross the reservoir.
In conclusion,
the construction of the Keban dam was an attempt at modernizing the eastern Anatolia region into a major economic asset. Yet, the Keban Reservoir essentially cut off Tunceli and forced thousands of Kurds to abandon their way of life and relocate. Through propaganda and Turkish policies concerning the dam, the social structure of the region was changed. The Turkish Government’s opposition to Kurdish militant groups like the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) is evident in the location of the reservoir as a means to inhibit access to the region.
References:
- Dissard, L. (2016, November 10). Shining icons of progress. Retrieved October 17, 2019, from International Water Power and Dam Construction website: https://www.waterpowermagazine.com/features/featureshining-icons-of-progress-5665565/
- de Vos, H., Jongerden, J., & van Etten, J. (2008). Images of war: using satellite images for human rights monitoring in Turkish Kurdistan. Disasters, 32(3), 449–466. https://doi.org/doi:10.1111/j.0361-3666.2008.01049.x
- Friendly, A. JRSpecial to The New,York Times. (1971, Jul 05). Dam stirs turkey's electric-power hopes: Project in anatolia seen as nation's T.V.A. effort. New York Times (1923-Current File) Retrieved from http://libproxy.lib.unc.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/docview/119195795?accountid=14244
- Kenworthy, EW. Special to The New,York Times. (1965, Jul 03). U.S. to lend turks $40 million for big euphrates dam project: France, italy, germany and 2 agencies also will help meet $331 million cost. New York Times (1923-Current File) Retrieved from http://libproxy.lib.unc.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/116888606?accountid=14244
- Kezer, Z. (2014). Spatializing Difference: The Making of an Internal Border in Early Republican Elazığ, Turkey. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 73(4), 507–527. https://doi.org/10.1525/jsah.2014.73.4.507
- Ronayne, M. (2005). The Cultural and Environmental Impact of Large Dams in Southeast Turkey. Retrieved from https://www.rivernet.org/turquie/pdfetdocs/turkeydams.pdf
- T. T. (1964, Sep 29). Turkey is seeking funds to construct big dam at keban. New York Times (1923-Current File) Retrieved from http://libproxy.lib.unc.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/docview/115592758?accountid=14244
- Ronayne, M. (2005). The Cultural and Environmental Impact of Large Dams in Southeast Turkey. Retrieved from https://www.rivernet.org/turquie/pdfetdocs/turkeydams.pdf
- T. T. (1964, Sep 29). Turkey is seeking funds to construct big dam at keban. New York Times (1923-Current File) Retrieved from http://libproxy.lib.unc.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/docview/115592758?accountid=14244
- Yadirgi, V. (2017). The Deformation of Ottoman Kurdistan and Bordering Regions: De-development in ESA from the First World War until the 1980 Coup (1914–1980). In The Political Economy of the Kurds of Turkey: From the Ottoman Empire to the Turkish Republic (pp. 151–213). https://doi.org/ https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316848579
Data:
- Turkish Statistical Institution
- Invest in Tunceli