Private Rivers : Politics of Renewable Energy and the Rise of Water Struggles in Turkey
Popular Abstract in English We won’t give up Anatolia! Shouting this slogan, thousands of villagers marched towards Ankara, protesting against the projects that threaten to channel Anatolian rivers into hydro-power plants. The majority of demonstrators did not reach Ankara. The police stopped them at the city gates for disturbing the public order: hydroelectricity development is a national prioritPrivate Rivers is a study of contested processes whereby use rights to water are privatised for electricity production. It engages with the issues of renewable energy solutions and the sustainability of run-of-river hydro projects in Turkey by investigating the connection between these policies and justice for rural populations, whose livelihood depends on the rivers. Since 2001, water privatisati