Censorship on ‘Fathomless' Lake posts
* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA) - Archive
Click to read the article in Turkish
The Gümüşhane Penal Judgeship of Peace has imposed an access block on a series of pages about Dipsiz (Fathomless) Lake on Ekşi Sözlük (Sour Dictionary), an old and popular social media platform in Turkey.
The lake was previously destroyed as a result of the treasure hunting activities permitted by the Governor's Office of Gümüşhane and the Directorate of Culture and Tourism. The penal judgeship has blocked access to the posts regarding the lake on the ground of "violation of personal rights."
As reported by EngelliWeb (Blocked Web), which is a project of the Freedom of Expression Association (İFÖD), the block has been imposed on Ekşi Sözlük's a series of pages, including the following: "The destruction of Dipsiz Lake with the permission of the Governor's Office", "The restoration of the Dipsiz Lake to its previous state", "Filling the Dipsiz Lake with water carried by tankers" and "Declaration of Dipsiz Lake a protected area."
Gümüşhane Valiliği'nin onayı ile yapılan define kazısı sonucu yok olan Dipsiz Göl ile ilgili @sozluk başlıkları, Gümüşhane Sulh Ceza Hakimliği‘nin 29 Aralık 2020 tarih ve 2020/977 sayılı kararı ile erişime engellendi. https://t.co/JPQCLkPmLj #EngelliWeb pic.twitter.com/yWaG1Ie98A
— EngelliWeb (@engelliweb) December 29, 2020
What happened?
Dipsiz Lake, which can be roughly translated as Fathomless Lake, is located in the province of Gümüşhane, at an altitude of 2 thousand 140 meters. Its main sources of water were, above all, snow and rain water.
A person alleged that the treasure of Legio XV Apollinaris of the Roman Empire was hidden at the bottom of the 12,000-year-old lake and applied for permission to dig up the lake. The permission was granted by the Governorship of Gümüşhane and Directorate of Culture and Tourism.
The ensuing excavation works were accompanied by Gümüşhane Museum Director Elif Ökten and gendarmerie officers. The water of the lake was drained and the area was dug up with excavators. Five-day excavation works were ended as no treasures could be found.
The water filling the lake was totally drained as a result of the treasure hunt. When the lake and its surrounding area were examined afterwards, it was understood that the soil structure of the lake bed and bank was damaged.
Speaking to different news agencies and media outlets in the meanwhile, academics underlined that Dipsiz Göl was a glacial lake, its 12,000-year-old ecosystem has been destroyed and the lake cannot be restored to its previous natural form by filling it again with water. (HA/SD)