Environmentalists have reacted to Turkish President Erdoğan's comment in Batman that he was bringing the ‘good news’ that Hasankeyf would be submerged. Faruk Gündüz from the Save Hasankeyf Initiative said that the President’s attitude to ancient monuments was similar to that of ISIS.

Gündüz complained that the destructive projects of the AKP government in Kurdistan were demolishing ancient sites that were the legacy of humanity. He compared the ongoing dam and hydroelectric projects in North Kurdistan to the direct physical attacks by ISIS on historical sites. While there has been a long campaign opposing the building of the Ilısu dam that will submerge the 12 thousand year-old town of Hasankeyf, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said during his visit to Batman that he had brought the ‘good news’ that Hasankeyf would be left under the rising waters of the dam. Environmentalists have criticised Erdoğan for attempting to legitimise his attacks on history, culture and the environment by calling them ‘investment’.

‘Advocating this shows that for them the process is over’

Faruk Gündüz from the Save Hasankeyf Initiative said that Erdoğan’s insistence on dam projects was linked to his denial of the existence of a Kurdish question, adding: "In this region, despite the fact no one wants the Ilısu dam to be built, Erdoğan’s insistence on building ‘security’ dams and military posts demonstrates that for them the ‘process of resolution’ is over.” 

'200 villages will be emptied and 75,000 people displaced’

Gündüz compared Erdoğan's insistence on submerging Hasankeyf to ISIS attacks on ancient monuments, adding that if the dam was built 200 villages would be emptied and 75,000 people displaced. “There will be great environmental destruction in addition to the ancient settlement of Hasankeyf being lost. I see the President’s attitude to history and culture as being the same as that of ISIS.”