The town of Hasankeyf, Turkey, is one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the world, with evidence of people living there as far back as 12,000 years ago. In a matter of months, most of the ancient town will be abandoned—flooded by a reservoir rising behind the Ilisu Dam, one of Turkey’s newest and largest hydroelectric projects. The controversial project will affect 199 upstream settlements along the Tigris River, as the water level rises up to 60 meters. Despite objections from international and local groups over the displacement of thousands, the loss of archaeological sites, interference with nomadic groups, environmental impact, and water-sharing issues with downstream Iraq, Turkish authorities quietly began filling the reservoir this summer. Residents of Hasankeyf were provided with a “new” town to move to—700 new houses and supporting buildings built three kilometers up the hill from the old town. Some of the centuries-old monuments and mosques from the old town were relocated to the new town as well. The Turkish government has given residents until today to evacuate.
Moving an Ancient Town to Higher Ground
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Local people use their phones to take pictures of the tomb of Zeynel Bey as it is moved on a rolling structure in Hasankeyf, in Batman, southeastern Turkey, on May 12, 2017. Turkish authorities conducted the ambitious and controversial operation to move the 545-year-old tomb to a new location ahead of expected flooding from the Ilisu Dam project. #
Ilyas Akengin / AFP / Getty -
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In this photo, taken on May 5, 2011, the Tigris River flows past the old town of Hasankeyf, with the remains of a destroyed bridge and fortress in the foreground and the ancient minaret of the El Rizk Mosque at center. #
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The enormous Ilisu Dam is seen filling its reservoir on October 2, 2019, in Mardin, Turkey. Ilisu is being touted as a key part of Turkey’s Southeastern Anatolia Project, designed to improve its poorest and least developed region. #
Burak Kara / Getty -
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The deserted village of Koctepe is seen slowly being inundated by rising water in the reservoir of the Ilisu Dam on October 2, 2019. A previous satellite view of the town can be seen on Google Maps. #
Burak Kara / Getty -
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The Artuklu Hamam, a centuries-old bathhouse weighing 1,600 tons, is moved by a wheeled platform down a specially constructed road from the southeastern town of Hasankeyf to a new location on August 6, 2018, to avoid being engulfed by reservoir waters. #
Ilyas Akengin / AFP / Getty -
An aerial view of the 600-year-old Eyyubi Mosque being transported by a self-propelled modular transporter to the New Cultural Park Area over a bridge across the Tigris River on December 21, 2018 #
Selman Tur / Anadolu Agency / Getty -
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The vacant village of Celikkoy, about 12 miles upstream from the Ilisu Dam, photographed in the early stages of submersion, as the reservoir rises, on October 4, 2019 #
Mehmet Caliskan / Reuters
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