EKİN ÇEKİÇ
The district center of Yusufeli, which will be submerged once the construction of the Yusufeli Dam is finalized, will be moved for the seventh time. While the newly established settlement will reflect the vision of our current civilization, it will watch the old, sunken civilization from the other side. On my second visit to Yusufeli, which is constantly changing and will soon be submerged, I realized that serious changes had already taken place even though it had only been three months since my first visit.
As I strolled through the district, two adjacent buildings with broken windows, neglected and forgotten, caught my attention. When I anxiously entered the building, I came across abandoned work clothes, gloves, and construction materials. I wandered around for some time and took pictures. Then, a man who saw me enter the buildings stopped me. After asking questions about where I come from and for what purpose and use I am taking photos, he began to tell me the story of the buildings.
These buildings, which were built as lodgings for the state officials who came to the district, were later allocated to the workers working in the construction of the dam and the new settlement area. The construction workers, who replaced the civil servants who were hastily evicted from the lodgings, were not able to form good relations with their neighbors. This man, who told me about the endless disputes, also said that he played an important role in these quarrels. After talking about the education levels and ethnic identities of the workers, he told the story of how they expelled the workers from the lodgings. These two buildings next to the cemetery, which will be moved to another place because of the dam, have been idle since then.
