Posted on 05/27/2019 11:34:39 AM PDT by Tired of Taxes
The town of Hasankeyf, Turkey, will soon be only a memory.
From her front door, Fatima Salkan has a sweeping view of the fruit trees, historic ruins and tidy stone compounds that run along this stretch of the Tigris River in southeastern Turkey. She tries her best not to look off in the distance, to the right. The town on the horizon, still under construction, is where she will move when the valley is flooded by a downstream hydropower dam.
“Do you see all these old places?” she asks in Kurdish. “We are the owner, but today we are homeless.”
High above, an old Roman fortress crowns a limestone cliff, which is dotted with the caves where her parents and grandparents once lived. The valley below, emerald-green after a recent rain, is studded with yellow wild mustard flowers and bright red poppies. At 45, Hasankeyf is the only home Salkan has ever known. A future severed from it feels like no future at all.
Archeologists believe that Hasankeyf’s history began 11,000 years ago, based on Neolithic remains found in the surrounding caves. (Thousands of caves remained inhabited until 1972.) Over the centuries, as the Tigris River became an important Silk Road thoroughfare, Hasankeyf passed through the hands of the Assyrian, Ayyubid and Ottoman Empires. In the second century, it served as a lookout for the eastern edge of the Roman Empire. In the 13th century, it was conquered by the Mongols.
Now, about 25 miles downstream, the Ilisu Dam is complete. The 6,000-foot-long, 1.2 billion euro behemoth is poised to generate 3,800-gigawatt hours of electricity annually, according to the Turkish government. When the project becomes operational — in June, officials claim — it will flood more than 115 square miles of an agricultural valley, submerging Hasankeyf and dozens of villages...
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Ping
‘If people protest, they are punished’
“You came too late,” one young man said. “Journalists came, we had many conversations. And still, nothing happened.”
The Turkish government estimates that 15,000 people will have to be resettled from the valley when the waters come, though opponents of the dam believe the total number of displaced residents is closer to 50,000. Some, including Fatima Salkan, say they were paid below market rates for their homes, leaving their future uncertain.
“We tried to protest but we could not, because they’ll call you a terrorist,” Salkan said. “If people protest, they are punished.”
Submerge Islam forever.
Funny thing about limestone caves. They are created by flowing water that dissolves and erodes the limestone away. They often go on and on through very tight passages impossible for a man to get through and so impossible to explore.
Those limestone caves may lead to the sea.
If so, this dam may not fill up to expected levels or may not fill at all.
From New England today-
Today, the Quabbin Reservoir is 39 square miles of gorgeous lake landscape. It holds 412 billion gallons of water, picking up another 1.6 billion for every inch of rainfall. It continues to serve as an irreplaceable water supply for eastern Massachusetts residents. Though it is no longer the largest manmade source of water in the world, it is still among the largest in the region. The last of the towns’ residents moved out in late 1938
Thanks Tired of Taxes.
The construction of the Ilisu Dam would lead to the submergence of numerous archaeological sites that have significance not only for the local Kurds but also for many Muslims, Orthodox Christians and arguably the humanity as a whole. The historical significance of Hasankeyf owes much to the fact that the famous Silk Road “originally crossed the river Tigris precisely at this point and the remains of a 12th century bridge can still be seen at Hasankeyf.” The city is believed to be the seat of an Orthodox bishopric during the Byzantine Empire, as well as several pre-Ottoman medieval dynasties of the Artukids and Ayyubids.
Turkish officials have openly admitted that the disruption of Kurdish militia operations has been a motivating factor in the construction of its dams.
Crassus died not far from there at the hands of the Persians. Crassus never traveled without a small fortune in gold coins. There are no accounts that the victorious Persians recovered his gold. Wonder if it will now be forever submerged under this reservoir together with those Roman ruins if he stored and hid it there while he campaigned.
Too bad it isn’t Istanbul.
That would be funny. On the other hand, submerging stuff may be one way of preserving things from Islam for a future generation. And I think I left my guns there.
It’s a damned shame honestly. None the less, the power generation potential is significant, and other people will be helped with access to electricity.
Beyond the people displaced, I hate seeing known and quite likely unknown antiquities destroyed.
I think that looks old enough to call it a day.
only kidding!
It never fails. Whenever a dam is built, communities are destroyed. There is evil and good in progress.
Perhaps electricity will pull some of their backward areas into the 21st century.
I'd love to read about that at the source. Ultimately, the Turks are typical muzzies, destroying more than they eat, and without any regard for anything or anyone who went before. OTOH, they are stuck building their dams at the geographically best locations.
Would like to think many will benefit.
I have a problem with the concept of many will benefit from the suffering of a few, but in life there are times when it’s warranted.
These people have grown up in a backwards corner of the world. I’m not convinced they don’t have lives they are happy with.
Modern civilization isn’t always what it is cracked up to be.
I’ll admit I couldn’t exist like some of these people do, but it’s what they know.
Not totally unlike the four towns that were flooded to created the Quabbin Reservoir in Massachusetts in the 1930s:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quabbin_Reservoir#History
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
