Protect Hasankeyf on the Tigris River

Date: 
Monday, April 23, 2012

The tremendous cultural and natural heritage of Mesopotamia is in great danger due to the construction of the Ilisu Dam on the Turkish stretch of the Tigris River.

Designed to impound an area of more than 310 km², it would impact the right to food and water of thousands of people in and around the planned reservoir as well as downstream. It also threatens precious riverine ecosystems hosting numerous endangered species, hundreds of archaeological sites including the ancient town of Hasankeyf in Turkey, as well as the Mesopotamian Marshes in Iraq.