A new hydroelectric dam planned for the Tigris river in Turkey is currently giving everyone involved a hard time.
In terms of benefits, the Ilisu dam does have a lot going for it. Once it’s filled, it will generate 1,200 megawatts of electricity, producing an expected 3,800 GWh per year or roughly 1.84% of the country’s electricity consumption. The dam is part of the South-East Anatolia Project (GAP), a hydropower and irrigation project on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in the Kurdish part of Turkey. Its reservoirs, once completed, are expected to produce 27,300 GWh of power per year, making up more than 13% of Turkey’s consumption.
However, the dam is also expected to swallow a 12,000-year-old town in the south-eastern side of the country, inevitably displacing hundreds of residents who fear that they might go homeless once the dam gets finished. Both Hasankeyf and its next-door-neighbor, Kesmekopru, will be completely submerged.
While historical monuments and other cultural artifacts are now being moved by the authorities, resettlement laws will bar the residents to move into the new town built by the government above the Tigris River waters. According to Reuters, Turkey has certain regulations which state that unmarried adults and people with addresses registered elsewhere are disallowed from claiming home ownership in the new site.
Turkey is estimating the project to be completed by the end of 2019, having been started 13 years prior in 2006. By the time it’s finished, the ancient valley will become an artificial lake.
