Turkey Dynamites Ancient Caves

The ancient Turkish town of Hasankeyf

Despite international condemnation and protests,in some source countries, like Turkey,  destruction of ancient cultural heritage is often an inevitable outcome of development ("Turkey's neolithic caves: is destruction of heritage ever justified?" The Week Aug 24, 2017)

Turkish construction crews started dynamiting neolithic caves this week to accommodate a new hydroelectric dam. The Ilisu Dam, the building of which has been delayed for years by protests, is also likely to flood the ancient town of Hasankeyf on the Tigris River. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements on Earth, with evidence of human habitation dating back to 10,000 BC. "They are not only destroying our past, but also our future by taking away this as a source of income and heritage," one resident told Deutsche Welle. "We would like to apologise to the future generations for allowing this."

The preservation of the past by collectors for future generations to enjoy and profit from offsets this damage, but source countries criticize collectors while unthinkingly obliterating the world's heritage in pursuit of short-term goals and profits.