Initiative to Keep Hasankeyf Alive, Press Release:
Ilisu construction has started again with permission!
As is known the export credit guarantee for the Ilisu Dam and Hydroelectric Powerplant Project, approved in March 2007 by the governments of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, has been withdrawn in July 7, 2009 after protests of affected region’s people and campaigns in West-Turkey and Europe. Immediately following this decision the involved three european Banks (Societe Generale, Bank of Austria and Dekabank) have canceled their loan for the Ilisu Project. But the european companies of the Ilisu consortium – Andritz from Austria, Zublin from Germany and Alstom from Switzerland – have not stepped back and the consortium is still existing.
As we could determine, in October 2009 the construction for the Ilisu Dam has restarted in the contruction site in the Ilisu village at the Tigris River. In December 2008 the construction had been stopped after the process of withdrawel of credit guarantees has started. For some weeks several dozen people and many machines work every day although there is no official permission by the State Water Works (DSI). This information was given us by a source from DSI last week. According to that on 28nd October 2009 DSI has sent a letter to the Ilisu consortium in order to stop the construction. We are asking the responsable minister for environment, Veysel Eroglu, what is going on? How is it possible that companies may build without any authoritation?
The villagers of Ilisu say that they have been informed to leave their houses in end of November. It is offered to them to buy new houses in the new settlement sites. But the new houses are more expensive than the amount which was given to their current houses in the expropriation process and it is unclear how an income in the new settlement will be restored. So the affected people announced to go to the cities. A new wave of displacing people will start soon if this is not stopped now.
After the withdrawel of the three european governments the minister for environment, Veysel Eroglu, claimed several times that they will find another finance for the Ilisu Project instaed to reconsider it. There was no convincing position by the government for our regions development. We would like to know why the Ilisu construction has started again. Has this to do anything with the visit of the Turkish Finance Minister Mahmet Simsek in China in Middle of September 2009? As we remember Mehmet Simsek said, when he was in China, that they have discussed also the Ilisu Project.
Why the Turkish government is insisting in this project so much although it has limited benefites and alternatives for energy or regional develeopment have been presented by many different organizations and experts in the past years. Why the government wants to displace ten thousands of people, destroy a culture of 12.000 years and a unique large river ecosystem? This is not in the line and understanding with the “democratic initiative” to improve the situation of the Kurdish people which has been declared by the government in the last weeks and months. There is a strong contradiction with its own objectives of this initiative.
We request from the government to stop the efforts to find a new finance for the Ilisu Project. The government has to cancel the Ilisu Project before it is too late. Otherwise our campaign and the discussions will continue in a more intensive way.
Initiative to Keep Hasankeyf Alive
13.11.2009
www.hasankeyfgirisimi.com
hasankeyfgirisimi@gmail.com
