As far as I know, the situation in Hasankeyf is really serious. This beautiful place located in South Eastern Turkey on the Tigris River is one of the oldest human settlements and will be submerged in a reservoir due to the Ilisu Dam Project. You can read more about this beautiful place in a report of one of my visits or an interview with one one of the activists involved in the campaign to stop the dam project that I did.

What you can do is sign a petition online to help stop the Ilisu Dam and save Hasankeyf. And I hope you all will.

Thanks a lot!

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The picture “River” I took on my first visit and to me it is the classical view of the town.

Sadly, this beautiful place might not exist much longer, because a dam is build in that region and Hasankeyf will be submerged in the reservoir.

Personal engagements, and the political situation in Turkey’s Kurdish region prevented me from returning to the town – but I was always wondering how things have developed since my last visit. Certainly, I read bits and pieces about Hasankeyf – but didn’t really get a feeling of what is going on. Therefore I was looking for someone who could fill me in on the present situation.

I finally found John Crofoot, an independent researcher and writer focusing on business strategy, heritage conservation and uses of public space for recreational athletics. He also is a co-founder of Hasankeyf Matters and has lived in Hasankeyf for 4 years.

John kindly agreed to answer some of my questions about the present situation and the possible future of Hasankeyf that I would like to share with you:

1. Is there a fixed date now when the Ilısu Dam should be completed?

No. Construction of the dam is approximately 80 percent complete. With steady work the dam could be completed within a matter of months. However, labor disputes, the violent conflict besetting the entire region and the weakening economic conditions are among the numerous factors that have combined to slow progress on the dam.

2. Do the current conflicts in the region have any impact on the future of Hasankeyf?

The PKK announced last summer that it would target large dams in Southeast Turkey, and in the fall the State-owned Anadolu Press Agency reported that union officials estimated that PKK activity had delayed completion of the dam by 2 years.

3. There are reports of the Stone Bridge and the the Mausoleum of Zeynel Bey being moved to a higher location. Are there any other buildings supposed to get moved as well?

Preliminary work to move the Zeynel Bey Tomb has begun but appears to be advancing slowly. The project is expected to take 8 months and requires technology that is only available outside of Turkey. The government scheduled 3 bidding processes (the most recent being in January and May of 2015), but each was canceled due to lack of participation. Last fall it was announced that Er-Bu Inşaat had been engaged the work.This firm has an impressive record of restoration work, including the rebuilding of the Mostar Bridge. However, according to the company web site there is no indication that Er-Bu has the prior experience necessary to minimize the risk of harm this extraordinary monument.

The Artukid Bridge is currently undergoing some kind of restoration. As far as I know, there is no plan to move the pylons of the bridge.

4. Are most of the inhabitants still living in Hasankeyf? Will most of them leave, or move to Yeni Hasankeyf?

Yes, people are still living in their homes and it is impossible to say how much longer they will be allowed to stay there. It could be a matter of months, or a matter of years. It’s an extremely difficult situation – both economically and psychologically.

It seems likely that a good proportion of Hasankeyf residents will ultimately take out loans for homes in the new settlement area. However, climate and soil conditions are not as conducive to gardening on the left bank of the Tigris, and house design is markedly different from the type of housing people now have on the right bank. It is difficult to under-estimate the toll that this move will take on the community. Without public and/or private efforts to record and document the community’s distinctive intangible culture (local dialects of Arabic and Kurdish language, oral histories, handicrafts, home design, gardening practices, etc.), the community will lose many traditions and practices. As much as I hate to say it, this move probably means the end of the Hasankeyf community as we know it. Please also see Tommaso Vitali’s documentary “This Was Hasankeyf”

5. How do you imagine the future of Hasankeyf if the dam will get completed.

Actually, the whole region offers amazing opportunity for adventure tourism – hiking, biking, horseback riding, etc. – whether Hasankeyf is flooded or not.  In the spirit of dialogue – which by definition assumes an openness to compromise – we should recognize that no matter what happens there will surely be ways for the surrounding villages to build a tourism offering that gives visitors an authentic experience of local Kurdish traditions. For example, Temel Ayca, who served as District Governor of Hasankeyf from 2013-2015, launched an “Ecological Village” project in Üç Yol, a nearby settlement that will not be flooded. This DiKA-funded project will upgrade caves and stone masonry buildings to house tourists. The plan is also to use produce from local gardeners in restaurants specializing in local cuisine.

The ruins of the nearby monastery of Mor Aho also hold great promise. However, the Government’s strategy for attracting tourists has not been outlined with any detail. There will be a large museum to display some of the important archaeological finds that are changing scholars’ view of the Neolithic period as well as architectural fragments to be salvaged from Hasankeyf. But I’ve read that the hotel, to be affiliated with the new tourism school currently under construction, will be a 3-star facility. This may not be the best approach for building a profitable tourism business in Hasankeyf.

6. Do you think there still is a chance to save Hasankeyf?

Absolutely. Hasankeyf has important potential to serve as an anchor for tourism in Southeastern Turkey. Göreme Cultural Park in Cappadocia surpassed $600 million in annual tourism-related revenues years ago. With proper planning – for example, by spreading tourism activities across a 600 square kilometer cultural park – Hasankeyf and its surrounding villages could attract upwards of 2 million tourists a year. If these tourist stay in the area 1 or 2 nights and spend on average $300.00 during their visit, the area would reach $600 million annually. Uncontrolled development, of course, could obliterate the invaluable cultural and natural treasure of Hasankeyf, so any effort to save Hasankeyf by promoting economic development must be based on the principles of sustainability. The article “Saving Hasankeyf” (Critical Muslim 16) explores the possibilities in more detail.

Turkey is a great country, and I’m very optimistic about the future of Hasankeyf. But there’s no hope for the town without a good dialogue and exchange of ideas between all the various stakeholders, including the Government, local residents, regional leaders, tourism entrepreneurs and cultural preservation experts, etc. Should Hasankeyf be selected as one of Europe’s 7 Most Endangered Sites, I hope that the study undertaken by Europa Nostra’s international committee of experts will be a step toward a lively national dialogue about heritage conservation and economic growth.

These are entirely John Crofoot’s views and they do not reflect those of Hasankeyf Matters.

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It was my third visit to the city beautifully located at the river Tigris. The first time I was already mesmerized by the beauty of the city: The old cave houses, the large castle on the top of the rock, the remains of the old Roman bridge…   Though the danger of Hasankeyf vanishing due to the construction of the Ilısu Dam lingers for a while now, I heard earlier this year that in two years the city should be flooded. I had already planed a trip to Eastern Turkey and therefore I decided to spend three days in Hasankeyf to experience this beautiful place again.   It nearly took me a day on several buses from Dersim/Tunceli via Diyarbakır and Batman, but when I finally arrived in Hasankeyf in the evening I went for a stroll through town, watching the sun go down over the river, shops closing and tourists leaving. I sat down in a café, taking in the atmosphere and felt happy to see this place again.

I went to bed early to have some time in the morning to explore the canyons behind the castle where you experience beautiful nature and seemingly endless rocks with more and more caves. As most tourists only visit the main part of the city, I was nearly alone, with the sounds of birds and insects. I enjoyed the quiet and the view of nature and culture so naturally interwoven.   In late June, the temperature can be easily more than 40°C, so around noon I went to the center again to sit in the shade with some cool and refreshing drinks. Because I can speak some Turkish I could also talk to some people and learned that no one was happy about the construction of the dam. Most people I talked to want to leave and will probably end up in the suburbs of Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir or Adana. Others want to try their luck in Yeni Hasankeyf – the new city that is already build up on the mountains. But I had the feeling that most people don’t really know what to do when they have to leave. But to me it was instantly clear that a functioning  society will be forced apart and most inhabitants have to find a whole new way of continuing with their lives.   In the afternoon, when it was cooler again, I went for a stroll on the other side of the river to take a close look at the Mausoleum of Zeynel Bey and the remains of the Artuklu Hamam. After dinner I went back to the local cafés and became acquainted with a man who showed me some old photographs from a time when most of the caves and parts of the castle were still inhabited and people needed to cross the river on a raft, because the new bridge over the Tigris hadn’t been build at this point.

I took this as a cue to read a bit about the city’s history – which, at this point, isn’t completely investigated. But it is clear that Hasankeyf was one of the first human settlements. The city was part of some of the oldest civilizations, and Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians and Persians ruled over the city before it became the buffer zone of the conflicts between the Romans and Sassanians. Then it came under Byzantine rule and later saw the emergence of the great Islamic empires.   And sadly, this long history of Hasankeyf is about to come to a close soon. Though some of the historic buildings should be transferred to an archeological park in Yeni Hasankeyf, it will only be a dim shadow of what the city is now.   Apart from the destruction of history and cultural heritage there are a lot of points that speak against the contraction of the Ilısu Dam: The inhabitants have to suffer the consequences of displacement and incorrectly planned resettlement (I learn that most people will get a third of the price of a house in Yeni Hasankeyf for their old dwellings) that most likely will result in unemployment for a lot of people. From an ecological point of view the dam will harm the entire ecosystem in that region. The massive construction of dams in the Kurdish region of Turkey as part of the GAP project already changed the climate from a desert to a subtropical environment which endangers a lot of spices and results in the growth of germs.

The next day before I left, I climbed on the rock besides the castle where I had a great overview of the city, the canyons and the castle. I felt happy taking in the view, but sad, knowing that this beautiful place will be buried under water soon.   For more information about Hasankeyf and what you can do to help, please visit Hasankeyf Matters. There you will also find links to the resources I used for this post.

As I am mainly a photographer, I certainly have some pictures, so you can get a sense of how amazing Hasankeyf is:

Additionally, here is a video I have been recently made aware of about communities endangered by dams in Turkey (Ilısu, the dam that endangers Hasankeyf) and Brazil (Belo Monte):

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