"Tigris dam project stirs hopes, fears in Turkey
HASANKEYF: For the people of Hasankeyf, this sleepy, once-mighty town on the banks of the River Tigris is a historic treasure: for those who want to build a massive dam here, it is a backwater in need of development. 'We have to stop the dam, our town will be destroyed,' said Hasankeyf's mayor, Abdulvahap Kusen, a staunch opponent of the Ilisu dam project, which would swallow up more than 80 villages and hamlets by the time of its planned completion in 2013. 'Our valley is part of ancient Mesopotamia, where human history began,' he said. 'When you visit our caves, you get a sense of how people lived millennia ago.' In the sun-baked valley, the minaret of a 14th century mosque soars above a cluster of cottages and tombs. Locals say the waters will rise to the mosque's speakers if the dam-set to be Turkey's second biggest-goes ahead."
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