“Our heads did not accept it”: development and nostalgia in Southeastern Anatolia

Abstract

This article examines the role of collectively shared nostalgia after a development-induced loss in Halfeti, a town in Southeastern Anatolia, Turkey. In 2000, part of Halfeti was flooded to form a dam reservoir as part of the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP). The reservoir submerged part of the town’s residential area as well as a large complex of orchards that were an integral part of pre-dam life in Halfeti. Ten years later, Halfeti’s residents shared a nostalgic, idealised image of the past, dubbed as eski hali, the ‘old state’, in contrast to yeni hali, the ‘new state’, which they viewed as being highly unpredictable at both local and global levels. During my research, I found it apparent that the orchards had been central to the economic, social and emotional life of the inhabitants of Halfeti. They were an expression of the social relationships in Halfeti and, in memory, a projection of shared community ideals. This article examines the role of these orchards as mirrored in nostalgic narratives about the eski hali.