The planned Ilisu Dam on the Tigris River in southeast Turkey will displace at least 50,000 people, most of them Kurdish, and flood the 10,000-year-old town of Hasankeyf. The dam is extremely controversial within Turkey and around the world because of its massive negative environmental, social and cultural impacts.
Last year, the German government granted export credit guarantees for the project. It justified this support by attaching environmental and social conditions to the contracts, claiming that if the conditions are met, the displaced people would not be impoverished and the ancient cultural art would not be destroyed.
Now, revelations in a new report show that these conditions are not being followed. In fact, the report highlights that the social and environmental risks of the project are as immense as has been anticipated by critics - people will indeed become impoverished and an ancient culture will be destroyed.
Germany is well-known in Turkey for its democratic system and its respect for human rights and the environment. This image would be severely tainted if Germany tolerates the violation of contractual obligations and international standards because of diplomatic concerns. This move would also weaken democratic forces in Turkey who seek to increase respect for international human rights and environmental standards in Turkey.
We ask Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German Secretary of State, to withdraw the German government's financial support for the Ilisu Dam project before it destroys the lives of the people and ancient history of Turkey.
Der am Tigris im Südosten der Türkei geplante Ilisu-Staudamm steht seit Jahren aufgrund seiner massiven ökologischen, sozialen und kulturellen Probleme in der Kritik. Die Lebensgrundlage von 50.000 Menschen steht auf dem Spiel und Hasankeyf, eine 10.000 Jahre alte Stadt, würde von dem Stausee des Ilisu-Damms überflutet werden.
Die Bundesregierung hat für das Projekt letztes Jahr eine Bürgschaft übernommen. Sie rechtfertigt ihre Bürgschaftsübernahme damit, dass sie Auflagen erteilt hat, die das Projekt verbessern sollen und garantieren sollen, dass die betroffenen Menschen nicht verarmen und dass die gefährdeten Kulturgüter nicht zerstört werden.
Ein gerade veröffentlichter Bericht von Experten, die im Auftrag der Bundesregierung die Umsetzung der Auflagen überprüft haben, bestätigt jedoch, dass alle Bedenken gegenüber Ilisu berechtigt sind. Die sozialen, kulturellen und ökologischen Risiken sind tatsächlich so groß wie von Kritikern befürchtet – die betroffenen Menschen drohen zu verarmen und eine Jahrtausende alte Kultur droht, zerstört zu werden.
Deutschland besitzt in der Türkei hohes Ansehen als ein demokratisches und die Menschenrechte respektierendes Land. Würde die Bundesregierung nun die Verletzung internationaler Standards und der vertraglich vereinbarten Auflagen aus diplomatischer Rücksichtsnahme tolerieren, würde sie dieses Ansehen verspielen und den demokratischen Kräften in der Türkei in den Rücken fallen.
Wir fordern daher den deutschen Bundesaußenminister, Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier auf, die deutsche Bürgschaft für den Staudamm zurück zu ziehen und somit alte Kulturgüter und die Lebensgrundlage tausender Menschen zu schützen.
Für mehr Informationen über Kampagnen gegen den Ilisu Staudamm, siehe die folgenden Webseiten:
The planned Ilisu Dam on the Tigris River in southeast Turkey will displace at least 50,000 people, most of them Kurdish, and flood the 10,000-year-old town of Hasankeyf. The dam is extremely controversial within Turkey and around the world because of its massive negative environmental, social and cultural impacts.
Last year, the German government granted export credit guarantees for the project. It justified this support by attaching environmental and social conditions to the contracts, claiming that if the conditions are met, the displaced people would not be impoverished and the ancient cultural art would not be destroyed.
Now, revelations in a new report show that these conditions are not being followed. In fact, the report highlights that the social and environmental risks of the project are as immense as has been anticipated by critics - people will indeed become impoverished and an ancient culture will be destroyed.
Germany is well-known in Turkey for its democratic system and its respect for human rights and the environment. This image would be severely tainted if Germany tolerates the violation of contractual obligations and international standards because of diplomatic concerns. This move would also weaken democratic forces in Turkey who seek to increase respect for international human rights and environmental standards in Turkey.
We ask Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German Secretary of State, to withdraw the German government's financial support for the Ilisu Dam project before it destroys the lives of the people and ancient history of Turkey.
The Brazilian government is planning to build what would be the world´s third largest dam on the Xingu River in the Brazilian Amazon. The Belo Monte Dam, meant principally to fuel the expansion of aluminum foundries and other industrial plants in the Amazon, would require diverting nearly the entire flow of the Xingu, drying up the “Big Bend” of the Xingu and its tributary, the Bacaja, home to hundreds of indigenous people. Native people upstream would also be affected by the dam's impacts on fish stocks, their principal food source.
In May, one thousand indigenous people and their allies gathered in the town of Altamira, on the Xingu River, to protest the plans for Belo Monte and other dams on the Xingu. The resolved to "not accept the construction of dams, large or small, on the Xingu and its tributaries.”
Please tell Brazil´s President Lula and other decision-makers in the Brazilian government that you support the position of indigenous peoples of the rainforest - that Brazil has better ways of providing its future energy needs than destroying the mighty Xingu River.
You can write to the Dilma Rousseff, President Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva's Chief of Staff and Carlos Minc Baumfeld, the new Minister of the Environment by filling out the form below. You can also reach President Lula da Silva's office by clicking here. Please note that after you fill out the form on President Lula da Silva's website, you'll receive an email asking you to confirm the email that you sent.
Thanks to your support, the campaign to protect the rivers of Patagonia is gaining momentum. Thousands of customers have stopped shopping at The Home Depot until the company severs its ties to the corporations involved in plans to dam Patagonia's Baker and Pascua rivers.
But Home Depot is not the only company with power to stop the disastrous plans that would kill Patagonian rivers, destroy rare Patagonian forests, displace families, disrupt livelihoods and spoil local tourism income. A giant Italian company, Enel, owns a controlling interest in the parent companies of Endesa Chile, the European partner for the Patagonian dam scheme called HidroAysén.
Please write to Enel and ask it to use 'parental power' to stop these plans.
-Personalize the letter below (personal letters have more impact), or simply use our version.
-Fill in your contact information
-When you hit send, your letter will be automatically signed and emailed to Enel.
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The planned Ilisu Dam on the Tigris River in southeast Turkey will displace at least 50,000 people, most of them Kurdish, and flood the 10,000-year-old town of Hasankeyf. The dam is extremely controversial within Turkey and around the world because of its massive negative environmental, social and cultural impacts.
The Brazilian government is planning to build what would be the world´s third largest dam on the Xingu River in the Brazilian Amazon. The Belo Monte Dam, meant principally to fuel the expansion of aluminum foundries and other industrial plants in the Amazon, would require diverting nearly the entire flow of the Xingu, drying up the “Big Bend” of the Xingu and its tributary, the Bacaja, home to hundreds of indigenous people. Native people upstream would also be affected by the dam's impacts on fish stocks, their principal food source.
Thanks to your support, the campaign to protect the rivers of Patagonia is gaining momentum. Thousands of customers have stopped shopping at The Home Depot until the company severs its ties to the corporations involved in plans to dam Patagonia's Baker and Pascua rivers.