HASANKEYF

Hasankeyf is an ancient city with a fortress on the Tigris River. It is situated betweenDiyarbakirandCizreinTurkey. Hasankeyf's ruling family bore the title ofmelik, or king. The family was a descendant of the famousSaladinand was thus anAyyubidsuccessor state. TheSharafnamamentions this family as one of the five that without actually founding an independent state had at one time or another money coined and thekhutbaread in its name. In the late 1990s, Hasankeyf became an issue because the proposedIlisu Dam(part of the giganticGuneydogu Anadolu ProjesiGAPproject) sought to flood and destroy the city and its Kurdish relics.