“History disappears” as dam waters flood ancient Turkish town

HASANKEYF, Turkey,

(Reuters) - Every day hundreds of people gather on the banks of the Tigris river in southeast Turkey to watch a 12,000-year-old town disappearing before their eyes.

Rising water levels from the giant Ilisu Dam further downstream are slowly submerging the town of Hasankeyf and flooding an area which was settled by humans for millennia.

The dam, approved by the Turkish government in 1997 to generate electricity for the region, will uproot nearly 80,000 people from 199 villages and has alarmed authorities in neighbouring Iraq, who fear the impact on their water supplies from the Tigris.

After years of setbacks, the dam started filling last July. Water levels in and around Hasankeyf have already risen some 15 metres and continue to rise by around 15 centimetres per day.

The dam forms a key part of Turkey’s Southeastern Anatolia Project, designed to spur economic growth in its poorest and least developed area.

Residents have left Hasankeyf, many of them moving to a new town, Yeni Hasankeyf, on a nearby hill which will sit on the shores of a newly created lake once the dam is completely filled.

For now, they can see the stone pillars of an ancient bridge which once spanned the Tigris, and the concrete arches of its modern equivalent, both being slowly subsumed.

Dirt has been piled at both ends of the modern bridge, which leads into Hasankeyf, to prevent entry to the town. Village guards wait at the end of it.

The water has crept up on the shores of the town near the end of the bridge, swallowing some houses. Sections of roads in the town are also under water.

Reuters was turned away from another entrance to Hasankeyf by police who said only residents moving their last belongings and people with permission from local authorities could enter.

Once the dam is filled, proposed plans for the area include ferries shuttling tourists between the new town to a section of the old town that will remain above the water. Several historical structures including a massive tomb, an ancient Turkish bath, a historic mosque and its minaret, have already been moved to Yeni Hasankeyf.

The Ilisu Dam will generate 1,200 megawatts of electricity, making it Turkey’s fourth-largest dam in terms of energy production.