Once again, the Initiative to keep Hasankeyf alive together with a coalition of international civil society organisation including Riverwatch, urge the Dutch and Turkish companies responsible for the planned relocation of the 600 year old monument Zeynel Bey Tomb to withdraw from this highly disputed undertaking. This monument of highest cultural importance is to be relocated to allow the inundation of Hasankeyf for the Ilisu dam reservoir. Resistance continues.

After local communities, national and international scientists and NGOs, as well as the European Parliament have all voiced their protest against hydropower dams on the Vjosa river, it is now the mayors of the Vjoa valley who unify against the projected dams. In an open letter to  the mayors of Përmet, Tepelenë, Memaliaj, Mallakastër and Selenicë put forward the concerns of the affected communities they represent.

If you want to see for yourself what „green and clean“ hydropower actually looks like, you currently have the chance to do so at the river Mur in Graz. In preparation for a highly contested hydropower project in Graz, about 700 trees – amongst them old willows, poplars and elm trees – have been clear-cut at the banks of the Mur under police protection and against heavy protests of thousands of people last week.