A Turkish Town, Waiting for Destruction
Images of Hasankeyf, Turkey.
by Carolyn Drake
Inside her neighbour’s home, a Kurdish girl adjusts a photo of a family member who lives in Germany.
Since 2007, photographer Carolyn Drake has chronicled areas threatened by Turkey’s Greater Anatolia Project. Among them is the town of Hasankeyf, which despite international objections, is scheduled to be flooded when the Ilisu Dam is completed in 2013.
Read about dilemmas facing modern Turkey in
“A Land Apart”, by
Christopher Frey in the September 2008 issue.
Hasankeyf is situated along the Tigris River in Turkey sixty-five kilometres upstream from the Syria and Iraq borders. Packed with archaeology and a mixed population of Kurds and Arabs, the town’s human roots extend back 10,000 years, uninterrupted. Just forty years ago, at the government’s request, most of the people of Hasankeyf moved out of their cave-like homes in the cliffs above the river. They resettled in houses in the valley below, where they graze their sheep, funnel the river’s water to their homes, and offer trinkets to tourists who find refuge here during scorching summers.
In Hasankeyf, lives are still intertwined with the currents of the river. But the town, along with more than fifty villages scattered along the banks of the Tigris, will eventually submerge under the floodwaters of the Ilisu Dam. One piece of Turkey’s giant hydropower and irrigation project on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the Ilisu will displace thousands of people and cover most of the archaeology that’s built into the landscape. The twenty-two dams that constitute the project will help modernize Turkey’s poorest region and increase Turkey’s political leverage over water-dependent Syria and Iraq downstream, but scientists and activists oppose the Ilisu on environmental and human rights grounds.
To see more work by Carolyn Drake visit her web site www.carolyndrake.com.
Comments (4 comments)
Anonymous: Super pictures of a real live issue. But what's the "Greater Anatolia Project" when it's at home? You've just made that up. The project's called GAP, a Turkish acronym standing for Southeast Anatolia Project. Which to my ear sounds more innocent than the sinister neo-conny version you've concocted. August 15, 2008 00:20 EST
Andrew: I love the style of writing and photographs - evocative, sad and charming at the same time. September 08, 2008 02:40 EST
Anonymous:
share our story:
A insomnia frog:A insomnia frog
January 01, 2009 02:24 ESTA Joyful party:A Joyful party
Bear in eggs:Bear in eggs
Big alligator:Big alligator
Birds and bear:Birds and bear
Carving and desert:Carving and desert
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Clever crow:Clever crow
Crystal ball's dream:Crystal ball's dream
Hungry fox:Hungry fox
Mom's birthday:Mom's birthday
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Piglets temper:Piglets temper
Small white and black pig:Small white and black pig
The camel is angry:The camel is angry
The old dog:The old dog
The poor and the rich:The poor and the rich
Broken dreams:Broken dreams
The little princess:The little princess
Dance bear:Dance bear
spring:spring
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Three rats:Three rats
A selfish giant:A selfish giant
Anonymous:
Dust off
your old sneakers
Do you own an
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If you answered yes to all of these questions, then you could already guess what
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Nike, Adidas, and the Sports and Music industry. And if your not, then you will
now.
They say that it was the Nike Dunk that started it all off. In 1985,
Nike brought out the Nike Dunk. Originally these sneakers meant for the
college community of basketball players. Instead, this style of sports shoes
started the sneaker sub-culture. Although this style of sneaker was designed
to be used during high intensity basketball games, the spotlight quickly turned
to the fashion of wearing them, what they looked like, and which ones you
owned. Twenty years later, Nike has brought the Nike Dunk back on the
courts with all its retro style and performance.
But why stop
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With Nike SB
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In the way of style, this sneaker has already come out with six series, and
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Another blast
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However, this band did not reach their full fashion peek until 2002 when Nelly
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The other major
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Another huge sneaker that was popular with the hip hop world was the
Adidas
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the Adidas Superstar to stardom was Run-D.M.C. This cutting edge group was known
for wearing their Superstars out on stage, and even wrote a song dedicated to
them called “My Adidas”. Whether its Nike or Adidas, clean out that closet,
dust off your old sneakers, and get into the game.
January 01, 2009 02:30 EST