The city of Hasankeyf has seen many emperors come and go. In the neolithic period it saw the first human settlement, the Romans were there, the city was part of the reign of Byzantium. Its inhabitants were Christian and are Muslim today. All this history shall be washed away for a new embankment dam.The plan of the Turkish government to build this dam does not amuse the people of the city who fear for their precious inheritage. The founded an initiative to save their home. The wall of the to be technical monument would be 135 meter high. The dam would be the first on the river Tigris.The Turkish government hopes for development in the southeast of the country. Critics say Ankara wants to put under controll the water that at the moment runs deliberately into Syria.The major of Hasankeyf, Abdülvahap Kusen, cannot think about leaving his 10 000 year old hometown. His prophecy about the politicians who will decide most probably in favor of the project: "History will judge them".