Another reaction to the flooding of 12 thousand year old Hasankeyf that is being flooded for the Ilısu Dam came from ecologist Ertuğrul Barka. Stressing that the capital has to grow in order to survive, Barka emphasized that the current government has commodified the nature and removed the mines, waters, forests, bays, and shores from being living spaces. Barka emphasized that Hasankeyf should become an important field of struggle for ecologists as well.

 

Underlining that dams have a short life Barka said that Hasankeyf should be seriously claimed. Barka said: "It is an important place for the history of humanity Kurdish people lives in Hasankeyf, therefore it is their history.That's the reason for the destruction. However, what is missing in the nature that humanity creates is culture. You add something else in the west and other things in the east. These are the wealth of humanity. But ethnically, religiously and culturally, they are alienating and antagonizing Hasankeyf so much that west does not care about it. They are unaware."

 

Stating that even in the recent occupation of Iraq, the museums in Baghdad were the first to belooted and the memory of the people there was tried to be destroyed, Barka said: “Hasankeyf should be evaluated in this sense. If Hasankeyf is going to be flooded, the humanity will drown.