Turkish police yesterday raided a vigil that had just been launched by the youth and women’s assemblies of the DBP in the Kerboran (Dargeçit) district of Mardin. The vigil has been initiated to protest at the recommencement of work on the Ilisu dam, which will submerge the ancient town of Hasankeyf.

The vigil commenced yesterday following a march organised by the youth and women’s assemblies of the DBP in Batman and Mardin under the slogan “xwedi derkeve” (take ownership).

Hundreds of people joined the march in pouring rain, carrying banners and posters reading “Let us communalise our land, water and energy and construct a democratic, free life,” and “Take ownership of your water, energy, street and history.”

The protesters marched to the side of the road leading to the site of the Ilısu Dam, where the vigil tent was to be set up, shouting “Av av azadi” (water water freedom) and “Be xweza jiyan nabe” (there is no life without nature).

DBP youth assembly members from the İdil and Güçlükonak districts of Şırnak province also attended the march. The police blocked the road with armoured vehicles and water cannon and prevented a convoy of vehicles reaching the site of the vigil.

Following the march a press statement was read out on behalf of the DBP youth assembly, drawing attention to the fact the capitalist system is based on turning everything into a commodity and maximum profit. “The capitalist system does not calculate the damage it does to nature and the social fabric,” it continued.

The press statement recalled that the Turkish state had emptied thousands of villages in recent years in order to exploit the terrain, forcing the Kurdish inhabitants to move to the cities were they had become wage slaves.

The statement added that the Ilisu dam threatened the ancient town of Hasankeyf, and called on people to take ownership of their nature.

Police raid tent and remove posters of Abdullah Öcalan

Following the reading out of the press statement police blockaded the tent and demanded that it be removed and that posters of Öcalan be taken down. The police said they had received orders from the district governor of Kerboran to remove the tent and threatened to remove it themselves if the tent was not taken down. The police then confiscated posters of Öcalan hung up on a building opposite the tent.