General discription in German (via Ercan
Ayboga vom YXK in June 2001)
Acht Staudämme am Fluss Munzur
Staatlich verordnetes Ende von Dersim
Der türkische Staat arbeitet schon seit Jahren daran,
in der kurdischen Provinz Dersim acht Staudämme am Fluss Munzur zu
errichten. Eine nähere Betrachtung lässt jedoch eindeutig folgern,
dass nicht wie angegeben ökonomische, sondern hauptsächlich politische
Gründe dafür ausschlaggebend sind. Denn die Staudämme haben langfristig
weder für die Region noch für die türkische Wirtschaft einen nennenswerten
Nutzen. Der Hintergrund lässt sich daraus folglich ableiten: Diese
Provinz mit ihrer atemberaubend wilden Natur und ihren seit Jahrhunderten
opponierenden Menschen soll endgültig 'gebändigt' werden.
Den
komplette Bericht steht als PDF Datei zur Verfügung, 5 Seiten)
The complet document is available as PDF Doc, 5 pages (in german)
General description in english (1 page,
see below)
DESTRUCTION OF MUNZUR VALLEY IMMINENT
by Koray Duzgoren (August 2000)
The Munzur Valley takes its name from the Munzur Creek
that runs through the foot of Munzur Mountains from the north. The
Munzur Valley and Munzur Creek that named it start 50 kilometres north
of Tunceli province and go down to the city of Tunceli. The Munzur
Creek merges with Pulumur Creek nearby Tunceli and carries on its
journey southwards. The area of the Munzur Mountains, Munzur Creek
and Munzur Valley has been defined as a wonder of nature and was listed
as a National Park in 1971 (as foreseen by the Law on Forests of 1971).
However, the Valley was not included by the Law on National Parks
which came into force in 1984.
The State Waterworks Agency is currently planning to build 8 hydro-power
power stations and a dam in this unique area of 50 square kilometres.
The construction work of one of them (Mercan) is completed and another
one (Uzuncayir) is nearly completed. Experts say that most of the
species of flora in the area, estimated at five thousand species,
do not exist anywhere else in the world. It is also said that the
diverse fauna in the area is also under threat and many species including
deer, gazelle, eagle, falcon, bear, wild goat and wild boar will become
extinct after the arrival of the proposed dams and power stations.
Because the emergency rule administration is still in force in the
region, nature lovers and nature experts are not allowed to conduct
any scientific research and environmentalists do not have the freedom
to conduct surveys in the area.
The dams that will flood the Munzur Valley all the way through are
as follows:
1. Mercan Hydro-Power Station: Built on the Mercan Creek, one of the
legs of Munzur. The construction work is completed and it will start
to operate > next year. Built solely on the purpose of generating
electricity.
2. Akyayik Hydro-Power Station and Dam: Planned to be built on Mercan
Creek. Master plan is drawn.
3. Konaktepe-I Hydro-Power Station and Dam: Planning stage completed.
It will be built off Tornova village near Munzur Creek.
4. Konaktepe Hydro-Power Station: It will be built by the transfer
of the water reserves of Konaktepe-I Hydro-Power Station through a
pipeline.
5. Kaletepe Hydro-Power Station and Dam: Wall of the dam will be 125
metres high. It will flood some 36 square kilometres of the valley.
6. Bozkaya Hydro-Power Station and Dam: Currently at the planning
stage.
7. Pulumur Hydro-Power Station and Dam: It will be built on the junction
> where Pulumur Creek merges with Munzur Creek. Currently at the planning
stage.
8. Uzuncayir Dam: Construction work completed. It was built on the
junction where Munzur Creek terminates at the reservoir of Keban Dam.
Having flooded the entire area, it has cut off the link between the
villages in the mountains and the Tunceli-Elazig highway. It was reported
to be finally clear that the construction work of Konaktepe Dam, which
is considered to be the most harming leg in the project, was offered
to an American tender company who also obtained the mining licence
> for the uranium mines in the same region.
It is estimated that some 6 villages will be flooded by the water
from the dams. The grand reservoir of the dams will drown one fourth
of Munzur National Park under water.
Some facts and figures:
1. It is argued that the numerous dams that are currently built or
proposed will be built for irrigation purposes. However, the 25 per
cent of the land in Tunceli is actually mountainous and rocky.
2. Having 320 of its 460 villages evacuated within the past 15 years,
there is not a high level population in rural Tunceli. Most parts
of the area are still included within the forbidden zone. The official
population figures, estimated at 82 thousand people according to the
census in 1997, is believed to be lowered down to 60 thousand people
following the migration movements. Vast majority of the said population
is concentrated in city of Tunceli.
3. Some 60 thousand people who continue to live in the region will
have no > other choice but to migrate from Tunceli following the total
extinction of livestock breeding in the area due to the prohibition
of grazing (livestock > breeding was the most important means of trade
and the power plant and dam projects which will destroy the wonders
of nature such as Munzur National Park and Munzur Valley (although
tourism-oriented projects were once considered as the only remaining
alternative for the area).
Translated by Umit Ozturk Kurdistan Information Center London
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