ON THE WAY TO HASANKEYF

"The Ilisu dam is a hydroelectric project on the River Tigris. If built, it would displace up to 78,000 mostly Kurdish people from 183 villages and hamlets and the historic town of Hasankeyf."
~ KHRP, The Cultural and Environmental Impact of Large Dams in Southeast Turkey.

Called Heskîf in Kurdish, Hasankeyf needs no introduction. Hasankeyf is one of the world's oldest places, dating back 10,000 years. This isn't difficult to believe since the region contains archaeological sites that date back to 9,500BC, some 12,000 years ago. More recently, it was a fortress for the Romans, a province of the Byzantines, conquered and ruled by Arabs, and captured and sacked by Mongols. Today, Hasankeyf is a sleepy town in North Kurdistan who's history is under threat from the fascist Ankara regime.

I met this little lamb on the way to Hasankeyf. Its mother had died and the lamb was being bottle-fed by humans. As a result, the sight of humans brought the cute little thing running and crying for something to eat.

Also on the way to Hasankeyf, the mosque at the tomb of Veysel Karani, in Sêrt (Siirt).

Here's the dome at the entrance of the mosque. The colors were fantastic.

Climbing up to the top of Hasankeyf.

Here's the Dicle (Tigris) in the direction of Batman. Notice how low the water level is.

Here the Dicle flows past Hasankeyf, on its way to Iraq.

This photo was taken at the Great Mosque at the top of Hasankeyf. When I was there three years ago, one could read "PKK" on the wall. Today, one can read "HPG". "Apo" can be found in a number of places on the wall.

A building at the top of the town. Notice the haze in the background? It was the result of strong winds that had been blowing from the south for a couple of days.

More buildings at the top of Hasankeyf, and more haze. Try to imagine how many people have lived, died, and were buried here over the many millenia of Hasankeyf's existence.

This is looking toward the south.

Much of the vegetation here were thistle plants, one of the few things that could survive for long here--except cactus--especially since a drought is ongoing in the region and the heat of summer was building. In the spring, however, the area is very green and cool.

Off the road on the way to Batman, we stopped for tea. I found these young pomegranate's growing in the fenced-in yard next to our picnic site. Pomegranates are one of the jewels of Kurdistan.