The residents of Serpirê village, who have turned into tenants in the new city built in their village after Hasankeyf was flooded, say their memories and land have been forcibly taken away.
Batman's Hasankeyf district, which has a history of 12,000 years, was flooded with the opening of Ilısu Dam, whose construction was completed despite all the objections from public. According to official data, one district, 108 villages and 42 hamlets were flooded. According to a 54-page report published by the Hasankeyf Coordination in September 2019, 199 settlements were flooded. In the flooded village of Serpirê (Kesme Köprü), where the New Hasankeyf has been built, the houses are subjected to mandatory expropriation. In the 134-household village, the villagers' 36,000 acres of land, where the New Hasankeyf was built, have been taken away, and they have not even been compensated with new homes.
Abdullah Çıkçi states that they are made up of only 16 families in the village and that they are interested in livestock and agriculture on thousands of acres of land they own, but with their land underwater, they are unemployed, homeless and without land. Noting that the State Water Works (DSI) forcibly took away their land with mandatory expropriation that began in 2009, Çıkçi says, "They state that people in Hasankeyf sell their land. We have never sold our land. They took our land by force. Our land was fertile. We were also making good money with livestock. In addition, the shopping made by tourists who came to see the historical city was helping us. Our village was located below the bridge just across from the historic city. We used to have everything."
Noting that they became tenants in the land where they were born and raised, Çıkçi says that in 2009, their land, which is worth 400-500 thousand Turkish liras per acre now, was priced at 900 Turkish liras per acre due to the forced expropriation. Çıkçi says after their land was taken away by forced expropriation, the families had to move to Mardin, Batman and Istanbul, and adds that all of the eleven families who stayed in the new city have been made tenants.
Noting that the arid dry land was allocated to them five kilometers from the newly built Hasankayf, Çıkçi says, "Each family was given an area of 400 square meters. We can neither livestock nor agriculture in this area. We'll wait for the draw. They want us to build the house with our own savings. If they'd given us this place a year ago, maybe we'd have had the opportunity to do it. Iron prices went up from 3 to 8 liras. How can we do it in these circumstances?" Çıkçi reminds that the government has repeatedly cited Israel's attempt to occupy Palestinian settlements as an example and agitation, and said “Our history, water, land, homes, animals and memories have been taken away from us and they have given us an arid land instead. Those who want to see persecution should come to Hasankeyf."
Lokman Yılmaz states that their lives have been turned upside down by the dam. "They have taken everything we had from us forcibly. First they said that it was nationalised for 1,950 liras, then they came back and reduced it to 900 liras. They took their money back with interest from the people that they had given it to. Now those places are worth between 400 thousand to 500 thousand liras. In the new Hasankeyf, they stated that they did not want the villagers and did not even give us a place. 36,000 acres were the land of the villagers. Now we're tenants here. We were raising thousands of animals in our village. We have no means of sustenance in the city that has been newly built."
Yılmaz, who notes that they have gone to the court against the unlawfulness directed at their living space, continues: "Since the start of expropriation in 2009, unlawfulness has continued. Our land was taken away from us forcibly and money was deposited into our account. We didn't take the money that was deposited into our account. The trial is still ongoing. Although the court decision is in favour of some villagers, DSI is not taking the necessary steps. We're going to exercise our legal right to the fullest. We will go all the way to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).” (EVRENSEL DAILY)
Bülent Falakaoğlu
Hakkı Özdal