Disappointment and shock at German security bond for Tigris dam

The Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) reacted with great disappointment and complete lack of comprehension at the decision of the German government to grant export guarantees signed by the government for the German share in the planned Ilisu dam in the south-east of Turkey. „In so doing the Federal government carries part of the blame for the irreparable destruction of the cultural assets, thousands of years old, and a unique landscape”, said the GfbV General Secretary Tilman Zülch. „It is shocking that the very same politicians who supported and lauded the rebuilding of the Frauenkirche in Dresden are now welcoming this destructive project in an area inhabited mainly by Kurds, in which an extensive monument consisting of caves, streets, shops, madrasas and churches will be lost for ever.”

The Kurds and the Christian Assyro-Arameaens consider Hasankeyf as an essential part of their identity, to which they are attached and which they care for”, said the Near-east correspondent of the GfbV Germany, Kamal Sido. For the planned damming of the Tigris some 55,000 people are to give up their property, their fields and pastures and be evicted. The GfbV fears that those affected will move into the slums of the larger towns like Diyarbakir, Batman and Mardin. In the flooding of the basin of the dam, with an area of 300 sq km, at least 73 villages will disappear alongside the town of Hasankeyf. „The idea of moving the most important cultural monuments to a so-called culture park is just ridiculous”, said Zülch. How can one move a 6000-year old cave and buildings which are not made of stone?”