WATER ABLAZE - Patagonia Sin Represas

The proposed site of the Ilisu
Dam and the town of Hasankeyf
(photo: Wikimedia Commons)
credit insurance, even though the amount of borrowing itself would be
comparatively low as a result of these salami tactics.
Or perhaps all planned seizures would be carried out and
several monuments in Hasankeyf safely removed to other sites. The
current Ilisu consortium would then be able to apply for new loan
guarantees and the European governments would have to drop their
preconditions with regard to resettlement and cultural heritage sites,
thus substantially lowering the obstacles. No matter how the Turkish
government actually decides to go ahead, resistance will continue to
grow within Turkey itself as well as in Turkish Kurdistan. We hope
to build up sufficient opposition to the Ilisu Dam to prevent the
project going through under any circumstances whatsoever. In order
to achieve this goal, it is crucial to intensify demands that Hasankeyf
and the Tigris Valley be added to the list of UNESCO’s world heritage
sites. This would encourage further sections of society to mobilise and
also create an important new perspective for the future development
of the entire region. People who live in the affected area must be more
thoroughly informed about their rights and thus better equipped to
oppose the government’s resettlement plans because, if this section of
the population was to become increasingly and actively involved, even
more comrades-in-arms would be summoned onto the battlefield. A
coalition must also be formed with other Turkish movements critical of
large dam construction schemes. For over a year now, these movements
have been cooperating more closely with one another and the time is
right for such an alliance to win over the general public and the civil
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