Turkey, Adiyaman, 2018. A family stands near their sunken village close to Samsat.Samsat was built in the 1980s to accommodate the inhabitants of the ancient village submerged by the waters of Atatürk dam’s reservoir in 1989. But the "new city" of Samsat has been hit by two consecutive earthquakes (the last of which occurred in April 2018). More than 3,000 homes were seriously damaged. The government has started construction of 403 new homes, meanwhile families are living in a prefabricated buildings camp.

Turkey, Elazig, 2018. People travel across Euphrates river on reservoir lake of Keban Dam, the first hydroelectric santral on Euphrates river which has built between 165 and 1975.

Turkey, Hewre, 2018. TURKEY, Hewre, 2018. The remains of a sunken village near the Batman dam (completed in 1998). Of this seventy-five houses’ village, there is nothing left. Only two buildings partly damaged can be seen, including the remains of this mosque where a dozen of cows are now drinking and resting.

Turkey, Elazig, 2018. People cross Euphrates River by boat, the fastest way to reach the opposite bank. She enjoys the view of the Keban Dam reservoir lake. The Dam, filled from 1973, is the first major one built on the Euphrates - It is part of the "GAP" project - in Turkish: "Güneydo?u Anadolu Projesi" = "Southeastern Anatolia Project" . Led by the Turkish government, it consists of the construction of 22 dams - 19 of which coupled with hydroelectric power stations.

Turkey, Adiyaman, 2018. General view near Ataturk dam, the biggest hydroelectric power plant on Euphrates on river and in Turkey.

Turkey, Halfeti, 2018. Local tourists visit former village of Savacan flooded by the reservoir lake of Birecik dam on Euphrates river.

Turkey, Hasankeyf, 2018. General view of Ataturk dam, one of the largest dams in the country. It is located on the Euphrates river in Bozova (south-east Turkey). Construction of the dam and the hydroelectric power project (HEPP) was undertaken from 1983 to 1990.

Turkey, Halfeti, 2018. A general view of "New Halfeti". Following the construction of the Birecik dam downstream and the flooding of the area in 2000, "old Halfeti" 's inhabitants were evacuated. They now live 8 kilometers away from this typical village, in new apartments built at the top of the hill. It is called the "new Halfeti". Soulless, arid, sorrowful.

TURKEY. Halfeti, 2018. Children play in the water, on the roof of a partially sunken mosque in Savasan.The village (only accessible by boat) attracts all the attention. More than 200,000 visitors come every year to admire a minaret’s visible above the water. The rest of the city disappeared after Birecik dam's construction.

Turkey, Halfeti, 2018. A general view of "New Halfeti". Following the construction of the Birecik dam downstream and the flooding of the area in 2000, "old Halfeti" 's inhabitants were evacuated. They now live 8 kilometers away from this typical village, in new apartments built at the top of the hill. It is called the "new Halfeti". Soulless, arid, sorrowful.

Turkey, Hasankeyf, 2018. Young men stand next to caves, newly discovered on the construction site. They're destined to be submerged in water in a few months. The city, whose first settlements date back 12,000 years, has an exceptional archaeological heritage: Assyrian, Roman and Ottoman monuments, thousand-year-old troglodyte houses, remains of a stone bridge and a 12th century mosque are part of it. Hasankeyf is however condemned to disappear under the water due to the construction of the Ilisu dam on the Tigris River. It will be the second largest dam in the country, is at stake. Started in 2006, the project would bring "the greatest benefit" to the people as the current President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, then Prime Minister, promised. A total of 70,000 people will be displaced and dozens of villages condemned to disappear.

Turkey, Hasankeyf, 2018. Horses drink near typical straw huts cafés built on stilts on the Tigris River.

Turkey, Hewre, 2018. The remains of a sunken village near the Batman dam (completed in 1998). Of this seventy-five houses’ village, there is nothing left. Only two buildings partly damaged can be seen.

Turkey, Hasankeyf, 2018. Horses drink near typical straw huts cafés built on stilts on the Tigris River.

Turkey, Bozova, 2018. A few kilometers away from Atatürk Dam, under the heat, a man washes his car with his son in the Euphrates River.

Turkey, Hewre, 2018. A cemetery in former Kumgolu village flooded by reservoir lake of Batman dam.

Turkey, Hasankeyf, 2018. Young men stand next to caves, newly discovered on the construction site. They're destined to be submerged in water in a few months. The city, whose first settlements date back 12,000 years, has an exceptional archaeological heritage: Assyrian, Roman and Ottoman monuments, thousand-year-old troglodyte houses, remains of a stone bridge and a 12th century mosque are part of it. Hasankeyf is however condemned to disappear under the water due to the construction of the Ilisu dam on the Tigris River. It will be the second largest dam in the country, is at stake. Started in 2006, the project would bring "the greatest benefit" to the people as the current President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, then Prime Minister, promised. A total of 70,000 people will be displaced and dozens of villages condemned to disappear.

Turkey, Hewre, 2018. The remains of a sunken village near the Batman dam (completed in 1998). Of this seventy-five houses’ village, there is nothing left. Only two buildings partly damaged can be seen.

Turkey, Bozova, 2018. A few kilometers away from Atatürk Dam, under the heat, a man washes his car with his son in the Euphrates River.

Turkey, Hasankeyf, 2018. Hundreds of caves newly discovered on the construction site of Hasankeyf, They're destined to be submerged in water in a few months. The city, whose first settlements date back 12,000 years, has an exceptional archaeological heritage: Assyrian, Roman and Ottoman monuments, thousand-year-old troglodyte houses, remains of a stone bridge and a 12th century mosque are part of it. Hasankeyf is however condemned to disappear under the water due to the construction of the Ilisu dam on the Tigris River. It will be the second largest dam in the country, is at stake. Started in 2006, the project would bring "the greatest benefit" to the people as the current President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, then Prime Minister, promised. A total of 70,000 people will be displaced and dozens of villages condemned to disappear.

Turkey, Hasankeyf, 2018. The general panorama from Hasankeyf offers now a view on the "new city"....

Turkey, Hasankeyf, 2018. Local tourists came to see the city before it disappeared under water. On the right, we can see a part of the cliff destroyed with dynamite.

Turkey, Hasankeyf, 2018. General view of New Hasankeyf. The approximately 6,000 people threatened by the submergence had their homes bought by the government, which built a new town less than two kilometers away from the old one. Composed of 710 soulless houses erected by the Ministry of Collective Housing (TOKI), the administrative services have already moved there.

Turkey, Hasankeyf, 2018. Construction workers prepare Imam Abdullah mosauleum to move it to the "New Hasankeyf" The authorities have launched the move of eight emblematic monuments of the city near the "New Hasankeyf". The aim is to preserve this heritage in order to continue to attract tourists. They are now settled in a kind of archaeological park.

Turkey, Hasankeyf, 2018. People work near Zeynel Bey mausoleum, just settled in its new place in the "New Hasankeyf" The authorities have launched the move of eight emblematic monuments of the city near the "New Hasankeyf". The aim is to preserve this heritage in order to continue to attract tourists. They are now settled in a kind of archaeological park.

Turkey, Hasankeyf, 2018. People visit "Kasri Rabi" caves that date back to 1270's. The city, whose first settlements date back 12,000 years, has an exceptional archaeological heritage: Assyrian, Roman and Ottoman monuments, thousand-year-old troglodyte houses, remains of a stone bridge and a 12th century mosque are part of it. Hasankeyf is however condemned to disappear under the water due to the construction of the Ilisu dam on the Tigris River. It will be the second largest dam in the country, is at stake. Started in 2006, the project would bring "the greatest benefit" to the people as the current President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, then Prime Minister, promised. A total of 70,000 people will be displaced and dozens of villages condemned to disappear.

Turkey, Kesmekopru, 2018. Yasin stands on his house rooftop with son in Kesmekopru.

Turkey, Hasankeyf, 2018. People shoot at glass bottles near the Tigris River.

Turkey, Hasankeyf, 2018. A family cross the Tigris River on a makeshift boat near Hasankeyf.

Turkey, Kesmekopru, 2018. A todler sits on an Hasankey's terrace restaurant.

Turkey, Kesmekopru, 2018. Yunus, 22 years old, flies his birds on his house's roof. He's unemployed and have to take care of his family since his father died. For the moment they live thanks to their fig trees. They sell the fruits in Batman's markets. The village in which he lives (Kesmeköprü), very close to Hasankeyf, offers an incredible view on the millennial city, but also, now, on the cliff destroyed with dynamite (on the right).

Turkey, Hasankeyf, 2018. A young man stands in a small internet café.

Turkey, Hasankeyf, 2018. People walk on makeshift bridge to have a drink in a traditional restaurant on Tigris river.

Turkey, Hasankeyf, 2018. Hasan is the owner of a straw huts built on stilts. He has worked and lived here for 19 years. He doesn't know what he'll do once the city is sunken. City officials told him not to worry. Thanks to the rising waters, he will be able to open a new café in the new city. He gets upset explaining to me that it is not comparable, there is not this view, there are not these grapes, even less his precious fig trees on which he collects fruits every day. He is tired of not knowing what tomorrow will be like.

Turkey, Hasankeyf, 2018. A man prays in a restaurant. The city, whose first settlements date back 12,000 years, has an exceptional archaeological heritage: Assyrian, Roman and Ottoman monuments, thousand-year-old troglodyte houses, remains of a stone bridge and a 12th century mosque are part of it. Hasankeyf is however condemned to disappear under the water due to the construction of the Ilisu dam on the Tigris River. It will be the second largest dam in the country, is at stake. Started in 2006, the project would bring "the greatest benefit" to the people as the current President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, then Prime Minister, promised. A total of 70,000 people will be displaced and dozens of villages condemned to disappear.

Turkey, Hasankeyf, 2018. Men play cards in a small tea house of Hasankeyf old town. The city, whose first settlements date back 12,000 years, has an exceptional archaeological heritage: Assyrian, Roman and Ottoman monuments, thousand-year-old troglodyte houses, remains of a stone bridge and a 12th century mosque are part of it. Hasankeyf is however condemned to disappear under the water due to the construction of the Ilisu dam on the Tigris River. It will be the second largest dam in the country, is at stake. Started in 2006, the project would bring "the greatest benefit" to the people as the current President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, then Prime Minister, promised. A total of 70,000 people will be displaced and dozens of villages condemned to disappear.

Turkey, Hasankeyf, 2018. A few kilometers from Hasankeyf, a teenager fishes in the Tigris River. The water isn't as clear as it used to be since the construction work began.

Turkey, Hasankeyf, 2018. Drying carpets seen on a house in the old Hasankeyf.

Turkey, Hasankeyf, 2018. Drying carpets seen on a house in the old Hasankeyf.

Turkey, Kesmekopru, 2018. Every day, these four young men come on a hill to savour a melon freshly picked in their field to admire the view on Hasankeyf. As it to forget nothing of its details, its colours, its sounds, its history... their history.

Turkey, Hasankeyf, 2018. People walk on a makeshift bridge that lead to a restaurant settled on the Tigris River. A few local tourists enjoy the freshness of the evening. The city, whose first settlements date back 12,000 years, has an exceptional archaeological heritage: Assyrian, Roman and Ottoman monuments, thousand-year-old troglodyte houses, remains of a stone bridge and a 12th century mosque are part of it. Hasankeyf is however condemned to disappear under the water due to the construction of the Ilisu dam on the Tigris River. It will be the second largest dam in the country, is at stake. Started in 2006, the project would bring "the greatest benefit" to the people as the current President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, then Prime Minister, promised. A total of 70,000 people will be displaced and dozens of villages condemned to disappear.

Turkey, Kesmekopru, 2018. Women chat near a balcony in Kesmekopru. The village shares the same destiny with Hasankeyf and will be drown soon. After the completion of Ilisi Dam. A total of 70,000 people will be displaced and dozens of villages condemned to disappear. Tensions exist between the inhabitants of this Ke?meköprü village and those of Hasankeyf. It is therefore not possible for them to move to the "New city" which would be able to accommodate them. They have no idea where they will go once their village disappears under water. Maybe in a big city nearby: Batman or Diyarbakir.

Turkey, Kesmekopru, 2018. Kids rest near a small village pool. The village shares the same destiny with Hasankeyf and will be drown soon. After the completion of Ilisi Dam. A total of 70,000 people will be displaced and dozens of villages condemned to disappear.

Turkey, Elazig, 2018. A young girl crosses the Euphrates River by boat, the fastest way to reach the opposite bank. She enjoys the view of the Keban Dam reservoir lake.The Dam, filled from 1973, is the first major one built on the Euphrates - It is part of the "GAP" project - in Turkish: "Güneydo?u Anadolu Projesi" = "Southeastern Anatolia Project" . Led by the Turkish government, it consists of the construction of 22 dams - 19 of which coupled with hydroelectric power stations.