PanARMENIAN.Net

Turkey going to devastate archaeological treasure
14.07.2008 12:31 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Jointly with the Armenian community of Crimea,
Secretary of the Union of Armenian Writers and Union of Armenian
Artists Sassoun Baryan called on the international community to
prevent destruction of Armenian cultural heritage in Turkey, reported
Yerkramas, the newspaper of Armenians of Russia.

The statement says in part, `We, Armenians, were exiled from our
motherland and scattered throughout the globe resuscitating our
culture and cherishing our centuries-old history. Armenian cultural
monuments are protected everywhere and we were shocked to hear that
Turkey is planning to inundate one of the most ancient monuments of
Armenian history ` the cave-town of Hasankeyf. We are indignant at
cruelty of Turkish authorities which perpetrate another genocide, this
time against Armenian history.’

Hasankeyf, named by Arabs in the times of their sway, is an ancient
Armenian city located along the Tigris River in the Batman Province of
southeastern Anatolia, Turkey, in modern times it is densely inhabited
by Kurds. It is an ancient city, with roots going back 10,000 years.

In 2006, controversial project to build a dam in Turkey has
re-emerged, four years after it collapsed when major backers pulled
out. The dam is supposed to be the second largest in Turkey by volume
of water.

The Turkish government says the project, planned for more than two
decades, will provide much-needed hydro-electric energy and jobs in a
poor region.

But opponents believe it will devastate the area’s environment and
cultural heritage, as well as displacing more than 50,000
people. Dozens of local government ministries, community groups and
NGOs have formed a coalition, the Initiative to Keep Hasankeyf Alive,
to oppose the dam.

British construction firm Balfour Beatty and Swiss bank UBS, part of
the European-Turkish consortium involved, pulled out amid
international concerns about the project’s social and environmental
impact. A new consortium has now been formed, headed by Austrian firm
VA Tech Hydro, but its applications for export credit guarantees from
the Austrian, Swiss and German governments have not yet been
decided. NGOs in several countries are appealing for the guarantees –
given by governments to protect firms from risk in big overseas
infrastructure projects – not to be granted.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress