Ataturk Dam resettlement process: increased disparity resulting from insufficient financial compensation

Abstract

A survey of 99 resettled families displaced by construction of the Ataturk Dam in Turkey revealed that only a few of the families agreed to the resettlement plan and most of them resettled reluctantly. The compensation for this displacement was primarily monetary; however, the actual amount of the compensation did not reflect the market price of the land and most of the families presently own less land than they did prior to the resettlement. This resettlement adversely affected those who owned small parcels of land in particular, as many have stopped farming and are presently working as labourers or crop sharers. Many who owned large parcels of land were able to continue farming. The insufficient compensation offered by this project widened the disparity between these two groups.