BANKS DODGY DEALS CAMPAIGNS
About BankTrack
Visit us
Organisation
Our team
Our board
Guiding principles
Team up with us
Jobs at BankTrack
Our annual reports
Funding and finances
History
BankTrack in the media
Our privacy policy
International Bank Campaigners Gathering
Donate
2023-05-25 00:00:00
Philippines communities are fighting back against gas & LNG build-out in the Verde Island Passage
2023-03-17 00:00:00
Briefing: The role of financial institutions in decarbonising the steel sector
2023-03-09 00:00:00
Dutch bank ING supports controversial pipeline to import gas from authoritarian Azerbaijan
2023-02-23 00:00:00
Financial institutions need to address steelmaking’s coal addiction
2023-05-17 14:30:30
EACOP Financial Advisor SMBC is no longer involved with the project
2023-03-28 13:43:00
French bank Société Générale withdraws from Rio Grande LNG
2023-03-20 08:50:41
Who dares to finance Eni and Exxon’s dangerous Rovuma gas plans in Mozambique?
2023-03-14 14:59:00
New ING policy could spark bank shift away from financing oil and gas infrastructure
Connect
2023-05-03 00:00:00
A Rotten Business: How Barclays became the go-to bank for JBS, one of the world's most destructive meat corporations
2023-04-13 00:00:00
Banking on Climate Chaos 2023
2023-04-12 00:00:00
The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP): Finance Risk Update No. 4
2023-03-29 00:00:00
BankTrack Annual Report 2022
See all publications
Sections
Banks Dodgy Deals Campaigns
Our campaigns
Banks and Climate
Banks and Human Rights
Banks and Nature
Banks and Pandemics
Our projects
Tracking the NZBA
Banks and Putin's war in Ukraine
Tracking the Equator Principles
Tracking the PRBs
Banks and steel
End Coal Finance
Find a Better Bank
Banks and the OECD Guidelines
Media
News Publications
Fossil Banks No Thanks StopEACOP Forests & Finance Banks & Biodiversity Drop JBS Bank of Coal Don't Buy into Occupation
BankTrack
About BankTrack Visit us Organisation Our team Our board Guiding principles Team up with us Jobs at BankTrack Our annual reports Funding and finances History BankTrack in the media Our privacy policy International Bank Campaigners Gathering Donate
Successes Contact BankTrack
Donate Mailing list Facebook Twitter Login
Home › Partner news ›
Partner News

Ilisu Dam Turkey: Handing over of keys for new houses: a cynical act against international standards

2010-11-04 | Zurich, Berlin, Vienna
By: CounterCurrent, Berne declaration, ECA Watch Austria
Contact:

Heike Drillisch, CounterCurrent - GegenStroemung, Germany, +49 177 345 2611

Ulrich Eichelmann, ECA Watch Austria, +43 676 6621512

Christine Eberlein, Berne Declaration Switzerland, +41 44 277 70 08

 

2010-11-04 | Zurich, Berlin, Vienna
By: CounterCurrent, Berne declaration, ECA Watch Austria
Contact:

Heike Drillisch, CounterCurrent - GegenStroemung, Germany, +49 177 345 2611

Ulrich Eichelmann, ECA Watch Austria, +43 676 6621512

Christine Eberlein, Berne Declaration Switzerland, +41 44 277 70 08

 

By symbolically handing over the keys for the houses of New Ilisu, the Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan publicly celebrated not the resettlement, but according to international standards the displacement of the villagers.

Last Sunday October 31st , the Turkish Premier Erdogan went to the tiny village Ilisu for a big ceremony. He handed over the keys for the new pink houses. "With nice slogans and glossy house facades the Turkish government tries to cover-up that for building the Ilisu dam it is sacrificing the livelihood of 75'000 people as well as unique cultural heritage in the Tigris valley", argues Christine Eberlein from Swiss Berne Declaration. "It is just marketing, but not substantial and sustainable dam policy. If they continue with the construction of the dam, it will lead to a social, ecological and cultural disaster," adds Ulrich Eichelmann from ECA Watch Austria.

What Erdogan kept quiet about: the displaced will not stay long in their new houses, because no reasonable income restoration measures are being planned and they will not be able to afford to remain. No animal pastures or vegetable fields are available in the rocky and desert like displacement area to support the families, living up to now as subsistence farmers. Food supply and animal fodder is already a problem as the ongoing construction works for the dam walls destroyed the pastures and vegetable gardens along the river banks."Even if we were getting luxurious houses, how shall we survive without pastures for our animals and without the fertile gardens which nourished our families?" asks the mayor of Ilisu, Mehmet Celik. On top, the new houses are not for free, he complains: "After five years, we will have to buy them for double the price we received for our old houses. Without income we will not be able to buy them but end up in debts".

Also further upstream, in the ancient town of Hasankeyf, the very existence of the inhabitants is under threat. After a rock-fall in summer 2010, the government closed off the historical part and tourist attractions and informed tourist operators not to visit. Measures to prevent further rock-falls, which would allow a re-opening of Hasankeyf, are tellingly not planned. As a result, Hasankeyf is faced with ruin. The creeping expropriation and impoverishment of the dam affected people is already happening, long before their land will be flooded.

"International standards condemn such an approach as a prelude to forced displacement", comments Heike Drillisch from CounterCurrent, Germany. "The Turkish government violates human rights by conducting the resettlement process upside down: first the income of the affected people has to be secured, only then can construction of such a large project start." Due to the continued failure of the Turkish government to meet international standards, which was made public by organisations like Berne Declaration, CounterCurrent and ECA Watch Austria, the governments of Germany, Austria and Switzerland withdrew export credit guarantees for the project in 2009.

While Prime Minister Erdogan is determined to proceed with the Ilisu dam, resistance against the project continues to rise. Citizens' initiatives throughout the country, artist and academics protest against "damming" Turkey. The University of Ankara presented an alternative plan consisting of five smaller dams which would preserve Hasankeyf. Its

outstanding cultural significance brought international attention to the affected population's struggle to save its cultural heritage. "The struggle is not over and the dam is not built yet. We will continue to fight against this project and to inform the international public about what is really going on at the Tigris river", announced Ulrich Eichelmann.

Ilisu and other dams in Turkey will be discussed at a conference in the European Parliament on November 18th. Citizens' initiatives from various regions will report on the environmental, cultural and social impacts of the "tsunami of dams". The government in Ankara plans to build more than 1500 additional dams throughout the country.

 

Banks

Akbank

Turkey
Active

Garanti BBVA

Turkey
Active
Dodgy Deals
There are no active project profiles for this item now.

Ilisu dam

Turkey
Project
On record
Hydroelectric Power Generation

Ilisu dam

Turkey
Sections
Banks Policies Dodgy Deals Campaigns
Our campaigns
Banks and Climate Banks and Human Rights Banks and Nature Banks and Pandemics
Our projects
Tracking the NZBA Banks and Putin's war in Ukraine Tracking the Equator Principles Tracking the PRBs Banks and steel End Coal Finance Find a Better Bank Banks and the OECD Guidelines
Media
News Publications
Fossil Banks No Thanks StopEACOP Forests & Finance Banks & Biodiversity Drop JBS Bank of Coal Don't Buy into Occupation
BankTrack
About BankTrack Visit us Organisation Our team Our board Guiding principles Team up with us Jobs at BankTrack Our annual reports Funding and finances History BankTrack in the media Our privacy policy International Bank Campaigners Gathering Donate
Successes Contact BankTrack
Vismarkt 15
6511 VJ Nijmegen
The Netherlands
Tel: +31 24 324 9220
Contact@banktrack.org
Donate Mailing list Facebook Twitter
©2022 BankTrack
BankTrack is a registered charity in the Netherlands (ANBI) - RSIN 813874658
Find our privacy policy here

Stay up to date

Sign up now for all BankTrack's news


Make a comment

Your comment will be reviewed, before being posted