Statement for Hasankeyf by 25 Bar Associations: 'Let's Make the History Live'

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The 12-thousand-year-old ancient city of Hasankeyf and the Tigris Valley will be submerged into the water if the Ilısu Dam, construction of which was completed in May, begins to operate.

Another call has been made against the dam's filling with water, this time by bar associations from 25 provinces, including Aydın, Antalya, İzmir, Tekirdağ, Kırklareli, Yalova, Diyarbakır, Bursa, Urfa and Mardin.

Chairpersons of the bar associations gathered at Hasankeyf View Terrace with banners that read, "Let's make the history live, humanity live, Hasankeyf live" and "Let the Tigris flow freely."

Batman Bar Association Chairperson Abdülhamit Çakan read a statement, saying that saving Hasankeyf is possible.

"Hasankeyf is a place where civilizations intersect and meet. Although it was declared an archeological protected site, none of the necessary actions to protect it and hand it down to the next generations have been taken.

"It is evaluated by the digging experts that only about 10 percent of the digging could be done and 50 or even 70 years would be barely enough to unearth the archeological remains.

"Although all of these are known, Hasankeyf is desired to be sacrificed for the Ilısı Dam and Hydroelectric Plant project, the life of which can be 50 years at most. None of the international conventions or laws were taken into consideration during the construction of the Ilısu project. The project does not even have an environmental impact evaluation report.

"Hereby, we call upon all the authorities from these ancient land, we expect them to take action to save HAsankeyf and Tigris Valley." (RT/DB/VK)