Read about dilemmas facing modern Turkey in “A Land Apart”, by Christopher Frey in the September 2008 issue.
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 (2 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