International Coordinator for 'Save the Tigris and Iraqi Marshes Campaign' Toon Bijnens pointed out that the 12 thousand year old ancient city of Hasankeyf is under threat by the Ilısu Dam and said that city should be included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List, like the Iraqi Marshes were.

Bijnens stated that he attended the Hasankeyf symposium for the 'Save the Tigris and Iraqi Marshes Campaign' and said, “The Ilısu Dam affects not only this region, but also Iraq. We are running this campaign against the Ilısu Dam in Iraq as well. The Ilısu Dam will affect the marshes in southern Iraq which are the largest marshes in the Middle East. I am here to show solidarity with the people of Batman and Hasankeyf and to oppose the dam.”

Toom Bijnens said Hasankeyf should be included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List like the Iraqi Marshes, and continued, “I will relay the results of the Hasankeyf symposium in Batman to my colleagues and we will form a road map according to this. We want to act together with the people here fighting against the dam. It was good for me to witness the level of discussion in Kurdistan up close. Hasankeyf needs to be in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List just like the Iraqi Marshes. We can form this demand and other demands in a tighter bond together. With my visit here, we can join our efforts in the coming months. The fight against the Ilısu Dam is not only here. There is a fight in Iraq against this dam as well.”

Pointing out the magnitude of the damage the Ilısu Dam will create, Toom Bijnens said the dam will cause social injustice and continued: “If the Ilısu Dam is built, there will be a great reduction in the water going to Iraq. We estimate a drop around 25%. This will end agriculture based on water in Iraq. There will also be a great drop in the availability of drinking water. The cutting off of the river will create great economical loss as well. Fishery is common in the marshlands, there will be no fish species left if this dam is built. We can see that the Ilısu Dam poses a great threat on every aspect. The water should be a tool for peace-building, not conflict. There needs to be a mutual agreement between countries. The sharing of water should not create social injustice and conflict.”

A transcript of the video above is given below, edited for clarity:

“My name is Toon Bijnens, I’m from the Save the Tigris campaign. We are a campaign based in Iraq against the Ilısu Dam. Ilısu Dam will have a big impact not only on Hasankeyf, but also on the people of Iraq. When the Ilısu Dam is built, there will be less water going to Iraq. Our campaign is a campaign to stop the contruction of Ilısu Dam. We also advocate for the marshes, which is a natural environment in the south of Iraq, to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. So, I’m here to show solidarity with the people of Hasankeyf and to show that we have a common struggle and a common bond, that we fight for the same cause.

Can you describe how this symposium and your visit can contribute to the coordination and collaboration between the two campaigns on the two sides? What do you want to do with the results of this symposium, for example, towards your campaign?

I think the symposium is a very good occasion to exchange ideas with the people here in Turkey, since we are fighting for the same cause. It’s a very good occasion to build a stronger network, and also to plan for the coming months, the coming period for what we want to do in the fight against Ilısu Dam. We want Hasankeyf included in the UNESCO WHL. Also in Iraq, we want the Iraqi marshes included in UNESCO WHL so we can coordinate further events in the coming months. We have many people from other campaigns here in Turkey. It was good to meet in person, face to face and discuss how we are going to continue in the coming months. Because it’s better if we combine our efforts for the same cause. I’m also here to offer help from Iraq, to show the people here in Hasankeyf that they are not alone and it’s better if we can build a connection across the borders to work towards a common goal.

How would you describe the impact in Iraq?

It would be the same in Iraq. To put it very briefly, there would simply be less water going to Iraq, and people depend on it economically, for instance for agriculture. We see that the people depend on the marshes for fishery. There is a lot of heritage on the Tigris river, the marshes are a big natural heritage. So, we have lots of people economically and culturally dependent on the Tigris river. If the dam were to be built, we would have at least 25% less water going to Iraq, which means that there will be less water available for the populations, including drinking water. So, what we want is to use the waters of the Tigris river as a sort of peace-building effort, and to make sure that people on both sides of the river, in Iraq and Turkey, cooperate in order to have an agreement on equal shares of water. We advocate for an agreement between countries, using water as a peace-building instrument.

I think the dams are definitely used for political purposes. I think you can see this in Turkey. Also in Iraq, people are building dams in the north of Iraq, which will affect on the people in the south of Iraq. There is a huge competition going on over water resources. And in the future I think this will only intensify. I think in 10 years time, 20 years time from now there will be more and more competition. And of course the people on the downstream end of the river will be controlled by basically the people on the north end, especially if they are building dams. So, what we want to propose is that instead of having this fierce competition, water should be a tool for peace-building, and people should share the water and realise that they have a common bond, the Tigris river unites all the people.”