| THE ILISU DAM PROJECT IN SOUTH
EAST TURKEY
M. Ronayne (Junior Representative for
Northern Europe – National University of
Ireland, Galway)
maggie.ronayne@nuigalway.ie
The archaeologists’ branch of the UK-based
IPMS union passed the following resolution,
imposing a green ban on the Ilisu dam project.
The idea of a green ban was first used by
construction workers in Australia in the
1970s and has also been applied to Ilisu
by UCATT, a construction workers’ union
in the UK.
Resolution:
The Archaeologists branch of the IPMS
states our opposition to the proposed Ilisu
dam project and we condemn the human rights,
archaeological and political consequences
of the project. Given the results
of the October 2000 fact-finding mission
to the region, we oppose the £200 million
of UK government aid to be given to Balfour
Beatty to participate in the construction
of the dam. The professional ethics
of rescue archaeologists should not be exploited
for the gain of developers, nor used to
support the repression of peoples in communities
affected by the development.
Being the union for archaeological workers
in Britain, we cannot agree to work upon
a project with such an inadequate level
of local consultation and disregard for
archaeological material that is both unique
and woefully undocumented. We therefore
issue a Green ban on the Ilisu dam project
and encourage all branch members to refuse
to undertake any works on any contract to
remove archaeological remains from the area.
|
World
Archaeological Bulletin