The Initiative to Keep Hasankeyf Alive and Mesopotamia Ecology Movement called on social movements, NGO's, activists to join the 3rd Global Day of Action for the defense of the 12,000 year old town Hasankeyf and the Tigris River on 7 and 8 June.
The Turkish government announced that on 10th June 2019 it will start filling the Ilisu Dam reservoir.
The statement reads as follows;
“On 15 May, 2019 more than 100 civil organizations from Turkey, Iraq, Iran and other countries of the world released a statement calling on the Turkish government to stop the destructive Ilisu project and initiate a new process in the Tigris Valley. They also called on the civil public to act against the flooding of the Tigris Valley, which would also cause grave damage to downstream regions in Syria, and particularly in Iraq. If completed, the Ilisu Dam will be an incomparable social, cultural and ecological disaster for a big part of Mesopotamia!
On June 7 and 8 actions are planned in dozens of cities in Turkey and across Mesopotamia.
You are invited to organize a public action in your city or country against the Ilisu Project in solidarity. The demands could target the Turkish government, the Austrian company Andritz, which is leading the Ilisu Project consortium, and request the Iraqi government to urgently act against the impending desertification of its region, a matter on which it is strangely silent.
In comparison to former Hasankeyf action days, this time we plan to broaden the variety of action types, including particularly artists. In around one week we will inform you with proposals.
Do not hesitate to contact us or inform us about your planned action.
Hasankeyf is our culture and the Tigris our nature!”
