Protests against the proposed Ilisu Dam, River Tigris, Turkey
A group of environmentalists and artists from northern Iraq spent the weekend in the ancient town of Hasankeyf in Batman, where they shared with locals the consequences of the planned Ilisu Dam on Iraq and Turkey through performance art.
The 12,000-year-old town of Hasankeyf is home to a number of historic artifacts and sites, such as the largest stone bridge of the medieval period, 15th century El Rizk Mosque and Zeynel Bey Mausoleum, nearly 6,000 caves and a citadel overlooking the town from a 100-meter-high cliff. The historic town, together with the surrounding Tigris River Valley, is the only place on earth that meets nine out of 10 UNESCO World Heritage Site criteria, according to a report published by Istanbul University’s Professor Zeynep Ahunbay.
But the reservoir of the massive Ilisu Dam, on which construction is accelerating toward completion, is expected to submerge Hasankeyf, along with its rich history, natural ecosystem and unique culture, below the Tigris River in only a few years.
In Turkey alone, the planned dam threatens 55,000 people from 199 villages in the provinces of Batman, Diyarbakir, Mardin, Sirnak and Siirt.
Environmental NGO Nature Iraq, together with a group of Kurdish artists from Sulaymaniyah in northern Iraq, visited Hasankeyf last weekend to share its concerns with the communities along the Tigris River in a refreshingly unconventional manner — through puppetry.
“This [dam project] is an issue that cuts across cultures. We are here to show our solidarity and create a buzz around a decades-old issue,” James Wudel of Nature Iraq told Today’s Zaman.
Hailing from Canada, Germany, Holland and Iraq, the group revisited Mesopotamian flood stories as a metaphor for the struggle for survival against and the impact of environmental destruction.
The environmental activists, donning white paper mâché costumes, strolled down the dirt roads of Hasankeyf’s neighborhoods to let the townspeople know about their performances. Children joined the procession, dancing and chanting in Turkish the time of the performance to the beat of the activist performers’ drum.
“Women and children came out of their houses and mosques when they heard us coming [down the street],” Jantine van Herwijnen, the project manager for Nature Iraq’s Mesopotamian Outreach Program, told Today’s Zaman. “Even those townspeople who did not get to come to the performances will hear about them or ask about them. And that’s what we want to do — get people talking about this issue from a different perspective.”
The townspeople and visitors to Hasankeyf on Friday sat cross-legged beside one another as the sun set behind the pomegranate and pear trees in the garden of Hasankeyf’s eco-friendly motel Hasbahçe.
The play opened with the activist performers wearing white to advocate for peace in water issues — which the group says always causes conflict — and working the land with their animals. They live in peace and harmony until news of universal flood comes. Reminiscent of Noah’s Ark, the people and animals build and take refuge in a boat, which eventually gets stuck on a dam. The animals and people emerge to find land with no more water and the animals subsequently begin to die. The performers, enlisting the aid of the audience, try to help them.
“This is also the story of Hasankeyf. The flood threatens to take everything with it. But as long as the water has not come, there is still hope,” one of the performers explained after the play.
2012 Ingathering
Nature Iraq’s performances were among the many activities of the 2012 Hasankeyf Ingathering, organized by locals and international partners like Hasankeyf Matters and Doga Dernegi (Nature Association) to introduce outsiders to the ancient town and generate ideas for increasing economic opportunity while preserving the world heritage site.
American John Crofoot, who frequently travels to the town and co-organized the Ingathering, told Today’s Zaman that he describes himself as a “friend of Hasankeyf.” The locals, who call him “Hasankeyfli” (from Hasankeyf), say he is one of them.
“The Ingathering had two purposes. We wanted to attract people to Hasankeyf and have them spend at least 24 hours here so they can get a sense of the daily life and the interaction between people and the environment. We also wanted to bring outsiders and locals together to form some sort of rapport so that from that conversation, new ideas can emerge,” Crofoot said.
“The activists and performers from Iraq rendered a wonderful service to the town. They brought people together and made people smile, laugh and talk about a very upsetting issue,” John said. “Nature Iraq provided new fodder for conversation on an issue that has been around for decades.”
In addition to Nature Iraq’s performances, Associate professor Adnan Çevik from the University of Mugla and author of the report entitled “Hasankeyf Medeniyetlerin Bulustugu Baskent” (Hasankeyf: The Capital of Civilizations) published this year, gave seminars over the weekend in Batman and Hasankeyf for the Ingathering.
Çevik shared with locals and visitors Hasankeyf’s importance in the Islamic history of the region as well as the historic artifacts that would be lost with the planned Ilisu Dam.
Sculptors without Borders, in cooperation with the Batman municipality and Hasankeyf Hasbahçe, continue their international symposium for the month of September with sculptors from several countries, including Argentina, Georgia, Iraq, Syria and Turkey.
Nature Iraq’s performances were among the many activities of the 2012 Hasankeyf Ingathering, organized by locals and international partners like Hasankeyf Matters and Doga Dernegi (Nature Association) to introduce outsiders to the ancient town and generate ideas for increasing economic opportunity while preserving the world heritage site.
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