Turkey can avert a tragedy on the Tigris It can develop energy
and progress into the future without washing away the town of
Hasankeyf, its jewel of the past. In the southeastern corner of
Turkey near its borders with Iraq and Syria, environmentalists,
human rights organizations, and archaeologists recently won a
battle in the effort to avert a cultural tragedy.Skip to next
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Austrian firms pulled out of their contract with the Turkish
government to build a dam that would flood and destroy a
historical ancient city, harm ecosystems downstream, and
displace thousands. To permanently protect this area though, it
should be designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Ilisu
Dam, a cornerstone in a project to develop Turkey's electrical
and water capacities, is the largest and the most controversial
of the 22 dams and 19 power plants scheduled in the $32 billion
Southeast Anatolia Project. At the heart of the controversy is
the town of Hasankeyf, carved int