Hasankeyf

Works have been initiated to move the historic Artuklu bath to a new place in the new settlement of Hasankeyf, to prevent it from remaining underwater with the construction of the Ilısu Dam in the southeastern Turkish province of Batman. Click through for the story in photos...

All historic artifacts in the ancient town of Hasankeyf, which will be submerged by the floodwaters of Turkey's fourth biggest dam, Ilısu, in the southeastern province of Batman, will be moved this year. 

A settlement from 11,500 years ago has been unearthed in the Hasankeyf Mound on the Tigris River's coastline in the fifth stage of archaeology works at the ancient town of Hasankeyf in the southeastern province of Batman, which has been initiated with the Ilısu Dam HES project protection and rescue works of the cultural heritage. 

The Hasankeyf Culture and Arts Festival was scheduled to be held next month in the southeastern city of Batman, where a trustee has been appointed to replace the mayor. The four-to-five-day festival has been organized for almost 10 years. Its aim was to draw attention to the ancient town of Hasankeyf, which will soon be under the waters collected by the Ilısu Dam. 

Eighty percent of the new settlement of Hasankeyf, replacing the historical part of the town that is set to be submerged under the water of the controversial Il?su Dam, has been completed. 

Mechtild Rössler, the director of both UNESCO's Division for Heritage and World Heritage Center, has declared Turkey did not apply for the inclusion of the ancient city of Hasankeyf on the UNESCO World Heritage List. 

Turkey's ancient city of Hasankeyf and its surroundings has been shortlisted for the Seven Most Endangered program 2016 by Europa Nostra and the European Investment Bank InstituteEuropa Nostra, the leading European heritage organization, and the European Investment Bank Institute announced on Dec 10 the 14 monuments and sites shortlisted for "The Seven Most Endangered" program 2016 by an intern

The 650-year-old Zeynel Bey Tomb, located in the historical Hasankeyf district of the southeastern province of Batman, will be removed in order to protect the artifact from the ongoing Il?su Dam Project which will eventually inundate the site.

One soldier was killed in an ambush staged by outlawed Kurdistan Workers? Party (PKK) militants in Turkey?s southeastern province of Hakkari on Sept. 1, a day after a police officer was killed in a PKK attack in the eastern province of Batman. 

One police commissioner and a fellow police officer have been wounded in an attack in the eastern province of Batman after suspected members of the PKK staged an attack on a car the undercover cops were in, late in the day.

Militants opened fired with long-barreled rifles around 3:45 p.m., while the police officers were driving down a road to the historic village of Hasankeyf.