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If
today a possible reason for war in the Middle- and Near East is oil,
tomorrow it could be fresh water and its distribution and long-lasting
exploitation. Turkey, Syria and Iraq together share the two biggest
water streams of the region: Euphrates and Tigris. In this case
"sharing" is not a suitable word, because since more than three decades
Turkey has realized one of the most gigantic dam wall projects
worldwide at the upper flow of the streams. Meanwhile it refuses to
obey international agreements concerning border-crossing rivers.
The so-called South-East-Anatolia-Project (GAP) is meant to catapult the "underdeveloped" southeastern part of Turkey, mostly inhabited by Curds, into the industrial age, with the help of energy production and irrigation of huge dimensions. The film tells about the social and ecological consequences of the GAP-Project using impressive images. Uprooting, impoverishment, spoiled ground, polluted water and diseases, previously unknown to the region, belong to the reality of the promised Garden of Eden. But even before these problems are recognized, let alone been solved, new dam projects have been planned and are in a phase right before their implementation. Fresh and sufficient water resources of the Euphrates and Tigris are becoming increasingly a question of survival for the neighboring countries. How to solve this problem? Turkey seems to have a solution: anyone who suffers from shortage of drinking water can buy it from her... Water - a weapon. Water - commodity.
Water - a human right? |