Istanbul (AFP)
The Turkish authorities have begun to fill a dam built on the Tigris whose artificial lake will swallow archaeological treasures and preoccupying Iraq irrigated downstream by the river, said activists Friday.
"They have closed the floodgates, the water is rising," Ridvan Ayhan, a spokesman for a group of militants opposed to the Ilisu hydroelectric dam, told AFP. Turkey.
According to him, satellite images taken between 19 and 29 July show that water is accumulating upstream of the dam.
Ilisu is a central piece of the Southeast Anatolia Project (GAP), a land-use plan aimed at boosting the economy of this long neglected region by relying on energy and irrigation.
But residents and conservationists are concerned about its impact on the region's ecosystem and heritage. The artificial lake must in particular engulf the city of Hasankeyf, some 12,000 years old.
The government rejects any criticism, claiming that most of Hasankeyf's monuments have been sheltered and that a new city has been built nearby to relocate the approximately 3,000 inhabitants of the historic city overlooked by a Roman citadel.
"We ask the authorities to empty the dam, no announcement has been made, they say nothing to the inhabitants, it is very worrying", deplores Mr. Ayhan, according to which it will take "several months" before the water do not overwhelm Hasankeyf.
Another group of activists opposed to Ilisu, the Coordination of Hasankeyf, also reported Thursday that the water level had been rising for two weeks.
Contacted by AFP, Water Management (DSI), the government agency responsible for dams in Turkey, did not respond.
The construction of the Ilisu dam also has a geopolitical dimension, which is the subject of delicate negotiations between Turkey and Iraq, located downstream.
Baghdad fears that the start of the dam will reduce the flow of the Tiger, while Iraq is already facing recurring water shortages.
© 2019 AFP