In the village of Aynwardo in Turabdin, known for its ancient churches and traditional stone houses, the Turkish Energy Agency has begun construction of a large-scale solar power plant. The G25-Mardin project is expected to generate 40 megawatts and is planned for land that has been used for agriculture and grazing for generations.
Village residents and Assyrians living abroad say the project threatens both their livelihoods and the cultural and historical environment. Water resources, grazing lands, and the village’s archaeological landscape could suffer permanent damage, according to the Aynwardo Association, which has filed a formal objection with the ministry.
For many, Aynwardo is more than just a village. It is one of the most symbolically charged names in Turabdin—a place to which diaspora families have begun returning and investing in recent years. This makes the whole situation all the more bitter: that it is precisely now, when life is beginning to return, that the land risks being taken from them again and that what defines the village’s character risks being lost.
