Criminal Complaint into Destruction of Hasankeyf

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Libertarian Lawyers Platform (ÖHP) has filed a criminal complaint with the Batman Chief Public Prosecutor's Office against those who are responsible for making rocks fall with dynamite as part of the Ilısu Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plants (HES) Project that will submerge Hasankeyf in Turkey's southeastern province of Batman.

The ÖHP called for the preventative measures to be taken immediately.

What happened?

Despite all the objections, rocks are still tumbling down from the castles as part of the Ilısu Dam and Dams and Hydroelectric Power Plant (HES) Project that will submerge Hasankeyf, an ancient town and district located along the Tigris River in the predominantly Kurdish-populated Batman Province in southeastern Turkey.

The Initiative to Keep Hasankeyf Alive has stated that the rocks that don't pose a threat or pose little risk were being tumbled down as well with dynamite-like explosives that harm the natural structure of the castle.

The initiative also has posted a video about the matter.

A delegation of five people consisting of construction engineers, geological engineers and architects made an inspection at the site on August 16.

Chamber of Civil Engineers Batman Branch Director Ferhat Demir from the delegation stated:

"As far as we observed, the caves below and wine cellars have been damaged due to the destruction. The entrances of the caves have been closed. If the rocks posed a threat, it should have been fixed through appropriate methods. An arbitrary demolition is inappropriate".
Batman Governor Ahmet Deniz on the other hand had shared another video claiming that "It is absolutely not true that dynamite is being used during removal of the rocks which pose threat in Hasankeyf". (NV/TK/LN)