Dams in southeastern Turkey are widely associated with the Turkish state’s “security” measures in Kurdish populated regions where continuously destroy nature, the ecosystem, habitats, and cultures and towns and villages in the region, most recently the flooding of the ancient Kurdish town of Hasankeyf.
The latest news comes from Şırnak (Şirnex), a city in eastern Turkey.
The walls of a dam near the village of Gülyazı (Bêjûh) and Hilal district that was constructed between 2009 and 2020 have began to leak through cracks that have appeared, raising concerns for the livelihoods of thousands of residents and villagers in the region.
If the cracks on the walls of the dam are not repaired urgently, experts fear that this might eventually end up the flooding a wide area, which may create a huge risk for the 4000 inhabitants.
Two villages flooded before
According to Mesopotamia Agency, the dam previously caused two villages, Inceler and Bağlı, to be completely engulfed.
As the construction of the dam was completed last year, its walls began to crack in the following months. The depth of the water which has leaked from the walls reaches up to 7-meters in depth.
Instead of “waterproof concrete” that should have been used, the dam was built with normal concrete, which is a much cheaper material chosen by an Ankara-based private construction company.
Critics and environmental activists in Turkey have been pointing out that these dams have generally been built by contractors, who have been known for their links to the ruling Justice and Development PArty (AKP) government.
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