Saving Hasankeyf: Limits and Possibilities of International Human Rights Law

AYKAN BENTAHAR B.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CULTURAL PROPERTY, cilt.25, sa.1, ss.11-34, 2018 (ESCI) identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 25 Sayı: 1
  • Basım Tarihi: 2018
  • Doi Numarası: 10.1017/s0940739118000036
  • Dergi Adı: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CULTURAL PROPERTY
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.11-34
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: heritage rights, human rights, international human rights law, Turkey, Hasankeyf, HERITAGE RIGHTS, PROPERTY, PROTECTION
  • Marmara Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

This article explores the limits and possibilities of international human rights law in protecting cultural heritage from state-led destruction. It does so by focusing on two attempts by activists and non-governmental organizations to have the United Nations and the Council of Europe intervene to save the ancient city of Hasankeyf in Turkey's southeast region, which will soon be flooded by the reservoir waters of the Ilsu Dam. Adopting a heritage rights focus, these grassroots initiatives have argued that Hasankeyf's destruction would constitute a violation of human rights because it would deprive people of their right to participate in, and benefit from, cultural heritage. I suggest that, as powerful attempts to link cultural heritage and human rights, these cases demonstrate the need for more effective and legally binding international frameworks to protect heritage rights as an aspect of human rights.