Alternative Water Forum which is hosted by Another Water Management Is Possible Campaign was held in Istanbul Bilgi University santralistanbul Campus with a participation of 1000 people from various countries. There were 14 seminars, 17 workshops, 3 documentary film screenings, 1 exhibition and nearly 20 NGO stalls in the forum organized on 20-21-22th March.

You can find the news about Alternative Water Forum published in newspapers of Turkey from this link. Please see below for the photos of the event. You can click here to see the photo album of Sengul Cifci on the event in Istanbul Bilgi University. You can also see her photos on Picasa from this link.

Istanbul, March 22, 2009

After Mexico City 2006, which was an important milestone of the continuous work of the global movement for water justice, we have now gathered in Istanbul to mobilize against the 5th World Water Forum. We are here to delegitimize this false, corporate driven World Water Forum and to give voice to the positive agenda of the global water justice movements!

Given that we are in Turkey, we cannot ignore that this country provides a powerful example of the devastating impacts of destructive water management policies. The Turkish government has pushed for the privatization of both water services, watersheds and has plans to dam every river in the country. Four specific cases of destructive and risky dams in Turkey, include the Ilisu, Yusufeli, Munzur and Yortanli dams. For ten years, affected people have intensively opposed these projects, in particular, the Ilisu dam which is part of a larger irrigation and energy production project known as the South East Anatolia Projects, or GAP. The Ilisu dam – one of the most criticized dam projects worldwide – is particularly compex and troubling because of its implications on international policy in the Middle East. The dam is situated in the Kurdish-settled region where there are ongoing human rights violations related to the unsolved Kurdish question. The Turkish government is using GAP to negatively impact the livelihood of the Kurdish people and to suppress their cultural and political rights.

The program of the Alternative Water Forum was announced last week with a press conference. You can see the program below. The Alternative Water Forum will take place in Bilgi University SantralIstanbul Campus at 20-21-22 March.

Another Water Management Is Possible Campaign organized a press conference in Taxim Hill Hotel on 5th of March. Campaign announced the program of Alternative Water Forum in the meeting. Omer Madra (Writer, Open Radio), Birol Topaloglu (Musician), Ufuk Uras (Istanbul MP), Akin Birdal (Diyarbakir MP and candidate for Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality), Ulrike Dufner (Heinrich Boell Foundation) and Sultan Toptas (Keep Hasankeyf Alive Initiative) presented the activities of the Campaign. Please see the news of Hurriyet below to see the details of the conference.

Differing views at the Alternative Water Forum
ISTANBUL - Organized to coincide with the 5th World Water Forum, the Alternative Water Forum presents different opinions on water policy. The alternative forum will take place March 20 to 22 at Bilgi Univeristy’s Santralistanbul Campus

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/domestic/11153424.asp