Declare Hasankeyf and the Tigris Valley a UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Turkish government is hoping to build the massive Ilisu Dam on the Tigris River in southeast Turkey amid extreme national and international controversy. The dam would have considerable negative environmental, social and cultural impacts; at least 50,000 people, most of them Kurdish, would be displaced and the 10,000-year-old town of Hasankeyf will be flooded.

Hasankeyf is one of the oldest continuously occupied towns of in the world and the more than 300 archaeological sites in the Tigris Valley near Hasankeyf are of great scientific and cultural importance.

Ask Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, to stop the Ilisu Dam Project and to propose Hasankeyf and the Tigris Valley as a UNESCO Natural and Cultural World Heritage Site.

Hasankeyf is an ancient city located on the Tigris River in south-eastern Turkey. This ancient city has roots going back at least 10,000 years. It is one of the world's oldest continuously occupied town. The 300 archaeological sites surrounding Hasankeyf are of great scientific and cultural importance. The Tigris River ecosystems support many endemic and threatened species such as the Euphrates soft-shell turtle.

However, 400 kilometres of intact riverine habitat along the Tigris River and its tributaries are threatened by the Ilisu Dam Project, which will destroy the globally important natural and cultural heritage of the Tigris Valley.

We, the undersigned, ask the Government of Turkey, through the Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan:
1. To stop the Il?su Dam Project
2. To propose Hasankeyf and the Tigris Valley as a UNESCO Natural and Cultural World Heritage Site.
Yours Sincerely,

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Declare Hasankeyf and the Tigris Valley a UNESCO World Heritage Site