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The Ilisu Dam and GAP

International Friends of Kurdistan is asking as many people as possible to become involved in the campaign to stop the building of the Ilisu dam. This is part of the GAP project which the Turkish government claims will bring prosperity to the people who live in the area it is being built in. The reality, however, is very different. The project is bringing destruction and destitution to a vast number of people who have little hope of ever rebuilding their lives again. It is threatening the precarious peace of this volatile, water-poor region as it will control the flow of the Tigris into Syria and Iraq. The Ilisu dam will flood the town of Hasankeyf and 68 villages, destroying the homes and land of 25,000 people and affecting another 11,000. This is an important place, not just for the Kurds, but for the whole of humanity as this is one of the sites where man first succeeded in farming the land 10,000 years ago.

Another Kurdish town has already suffered the fate that awaits Hasankeyf. Halfeti was a town from 1000 BC to 2000 AD, when on 15^th June the waters of the Birecik Dam engulfed it. It used to be called Rumkale or the Byzantine Fortress and is home to many historical and archaeological sites, including the beautiful bath complex with its five domes. Does the central Turkish government care what the people of the area will do without their only source of income – their land? Apparently not since they were forced to leave before bringing in their final harvest which was only a couple of weeks away from readiness. The international campaign against the dam has forced the Turkish government to address the issue of resettlement, but their response has been to build make-shift settlement areas which have been called prison camps by the Kurds forced to live in them. Conditions are basic, there is a heavy military presence and Kurdish families are being divided as the young people leave to swell the shanty towns of the nearby cities in the search for a new source of income. The Turkish government breached international guidelines by not consulting the population of Halfeti on the building of the dam and the resettlement programme and the people of Hasankeyf have similarly been ignored by the Turkish government.

A draft report on the resettlement produced by the Turkish authorities has admitted that up 78,000 people will be effected by this dam - three times as many as was previously thought. Nevertheless the Turkish government have no plans to stop the construction.

Update.

The Skanska company in Sweden who had a 24% stake in the building of the Ilisu dam have just announced that they are pulling out in order to protect their environmental reputation. This just shows how unsure the international community are as to the reassurances given by the Turkish government over the resettlement programme and the environmental impact of the dam. If the campaigns against the world keep the pressure up, we have a good chance of saving Hesenkeyf!

On Saturday 21st October at 11 am, there will be a demonstration outside the offices of Balfour Beatty organised by the Campaign against Tube Privatisation. There will also be a large contingent from the campaign to stop the Ilisu dam. The offices are just behind the Angel Islington Tube Station.

There will be a public rally in London on 31st October from 12-2pm in Parliament Square, Westminster, London. There will be speakers including Mark Thomas (Activist/ Comedian), Tony Juniper (Director of Policy & Campaigns, Friends of the Earth), Kerim Yildiz (Kurdish Human Rights Project), Nick Hildyard (The CornerHouse), Felicity Arbuthnot (Journalist), Jean Lambert MEP (Green Party), Sarah Ludford MEP (Lib Dem), and Dr Jenny Tonge MP (Lib Dem). There will also be a Kurdish singer and some dancing. Afterwards, postcards signed by people opposed to the dam will be delivered to 10, Downing St.

Also on 31st October there will be a meeting in the Grand Committee Room of the House of Commons about the system of Export Credit which would be used by the British Government to support Balfour Beatty's construction of the dam. Please use the St. Stephen's entrance to Parliament.

Campaigns to make people aware of the impact of this dam project have been mounted in many countries. If you would like to learn more about how to ensure that your Government listens to you on this issue, please follow the links below.

Germany: http://www.weedbonn.org/hermes/ilisu.htm

Switzerland: http://www.evb.ch/bd/ilisu.htm

USA: http://www.foe.org/international/exim/

         http://www.commondreams.org/pressreleases/march99/032599d.htm

         http://irn.org/dayofaction/1999/turkey.shtml

General European Campaign: http://www.rivernet.org/turquie/welcome.htm

Export Credit Campaign: http://www.eca-watch.org/projects.html

There are many international organisations who have taken up this issue and their websites provide a lot of useful information.

American Kurdish Information Network

Campaign Against Arms Trade

Corner House

Friends of the Earth

Kurdish Human Rights Project

Washington Kurdish Institute