URFA (SANLIURFA) General Information
Şanlıurfa
Area: 18.584 km²
Population: 1.443.422 (2000)
The history of Sanlıurfa can be traced back around 9000 years and the atmosphere is one of living history, where traditional life, culture and even clothing is more akin to the Middle East with Turkish, Kurdish and Arabic all being spoken. Sanliurfa (often referred to as Urfa) is also a place of pilgrimage for many religions, containing what is thought to be the birthplace of the prophet Abraham. According to Jewish and Muslim scriptures, he was summonsed by god whilst living there.
The traditional and religious conservatism, combined with the ancient historical monuments, has also given it the name City of the Prophets and has made Urfa a unique place to visit. Away from the city, the ancient village and genuine living museum Harran with its famous bee-hive type houses, has been continuously inhabited for more than 6000 years.
Districts: Şanlıurfa (center), Akçakale, Birecik, Bozova, Ceylanpınar, Halfeti, Harran, Hilvan, Siandrek, Suruç, Viranşehir.
Erdogan builds thousands of dams, why? - In Turkey
The Turkish economy is growing fast, too fast. But how does a country grow without oil, without gas? More than two thousand dams are currently under construction to match the need for energy. Green energy, though. But the areas where these dams are being built are paying a high price. We travel to a drowned village that disappeared under the water of a dam: only the minaret is left to see. How does a community deal with this loss? And why does the government continue to plan new dams, even though studies show that the dams do not produce nearly as much energy as promised. Does it have anything to do with the neighboring countries such as Iraq and Syria, which are dependent on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers originating in Turkey and that are now fully built with dams?
Original title: The drowned village
In this seven-part series Bram Vermeulen travels through Turkey - From Istanbul to the sparsely populated mountains in the east; from the closed borders of Armenia to the open southern borders shared with neighboring Arab countries - observing the rapid changes in a country that has a renewed fresh confidence.
In Turkey, was awarded the Special Award Discourse and Politics at the Erasmus EuroMedia Awards 2011 in Vienna.
Produced by VPRO, The Netherlands
Presentation: Bram Vermeulen
Direction/Editor in Chief: Stefanie de Brouwer, Doke Romeijn
Camera: Erik van Empel, Jackó van 't Hof
Sound: Bert van den Dungen, Rik Meier
Research: Yilmaz Akinci, Mahmut Kaya, Emran Küçük, Somnur Vardar
Production: Judith van den Berg
Editing: Matthieu Hes en Obbe Verwer
Colour correction: Gerhard van der Beek
Sound Mix: Rob Dul
Music: Wouter van Bemmel
translation: Emran Küçük, Halil Ozpamuk, Fatih Yüksel, Nian Bakal, Beriwan Khalil
Special thanks to: Alex Booy, Huibert Boon
© VPRO First publication: 1 may 2011
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