Şilan Özhan 

 

BATMAN - 13-year-old İsa, who lives in Hasankeyf and works as tour guide in summers to cover his education expense, expresses his sorrows because Hasankeyf will be underwater once Ilisu dam is completed. İsa says "Even we, as children, resisted to stop the building the dam", and he adds that the state wants to force people to be depended on itself.

 

Demolition is going on in every part of  Batman’s historical Hasankeyf district. Many historical constructions, rivers and castles in Hasankeyf have been sacrificed for Ilisu dam. Tens of thousands of people in many region of Hasankeyf, where will be underwater by the dam, will be forcibly displaced. The castles and caves have hosted the people of thousand-year-old Hasankeyf up to now. Old people, who spent their childhood in the caves of the district, still tell their stories. However, a life intertwined with 12,000 years history, seems impossible for next generation.

 

Children’s Hasankeyf...

 

While Hasankeyf is being demolished due to rent and looth, the children don’t want to leave their lives in the district. Children of Hasankeyf go to school in winters and guides to the tourists in summers, so in this way they cover their education expense. The children, who have opportunity to improve themselves in speaking foreign language, are unable to understand the government’s demolition policies on Hasankeyf.  

 

The children, who worked in summer and covered their school expenses before, say that nothing will be the same anymore. Stating that they become happy for living in Hasankeyf, the children don’t want Hasankeyf to be underwater.

 

İsa, who grows up with the 'dam' word …

 

One of the children guides living in Hasankeyf, İsa is 13 years old now and has been working as a guide in Hasankeyf since he was 8 years old. Saying that he has grown with the ‘dam’ word, since the day of his birth, İsa says “They said that they would build a dam in Hasankeyf for 50 years and they say, 'we will build a dam next year' every year but the exact time when they will build a dam is not known.” 

 

İsa says he loves living in Hasankeyf and he doesn’t want the state to build a dam in Hasankeyf. İsa awares of the history that he has repeatedly told to many tourists every day, and states that he is very upset about that such a beautiful historical place with 12,000 years old will be underwater for a 50 years old dam.

 

‘Even we, children resisted’

 

Stating that he wants to live for long times in Hasankeyf, İsa also says he wants to return to Hasankeyf even if he has to migrate to another city.

 

Saying that many protests held to prevent Hasankeyf from being underwater, İsa says “Many petitions were started for Hasankeyf, many people, including famous people, came here and protested the building of the dam. People living in Hasankeyf resisted. We, as children, also resisted to stop the building the dam. I still don’t want to believe this. However they tell us here will be definitely underwater and this make me and my friends very unhappy.”

 

'We live in the state's house, it foces us to depended on itself'

 

İsa ends his words as follows: "Nobody wants Hasankeyf to be underwater, but there is a definite decision. The state has estimated a price for the houses of the inhabitants, and it gave the money for the houses, nobody wants to leave here, nobody sold their houses willingly. I don’t want to leave Hasankeyf. Here was our house, but now it is the state’s house, unfortunately we are in the house of state and they took all our belongings, and the government told us, 'You can stay here until we say leave here.’”