STRUGGLES

Ottoman, Kurdish, Syrian, Egyptian and maybe Jewish people have history here.
CW: Can people in Europe help to save Hasankeyf?
Ofcourse you can help to save Hasankeyf. Maybe you can help pressure your parliament.
Maybe you can make protests. Maybe we can make some activities and one month we can
meet in Hasankeyfand do activities for saving Hasankeyf. Ifthere is good organisation we
can get 10,000 people here for a concert. You could make a protest at the same date and time
in London. Ifyou are near a UNESCO office you can make a protest there.
The government’s power has lessened [because ofthe results ofthe June 2015 election]. So if
we make more protests it may be more effective than before. We can increase and improve
protests as the government is weaker. People don’t want the Ilısu dam.
Ifthe government wants energy, this area sees the sun for eight to nine months per year. We
can use renewable energy – solar energy. The dam is a big loss for nature, history, people and
animals. IfHasankeyfhas to move, the compensation is very little.
CW: Do you think the companies have a responsibility for what is happening?
Cengiz [the contractor for the dam construction] is the same as the AKP. [Cengiz Holding's
chiefexecutive, Mehmet Cengiz, is believed to be a close ally ofpresident Erdoğan]. This is the
responsibility ofthe government. The company does everything for money, but the
government must think about everything. The government has all the responsibility.
ecological struggles in bakur
167
Children picnic
at the caves in
Hasankeyf.
Photo by
Corporate
Watch, 2013.