Infrastructuring Nature: The Turkish-Iranian Border in Van

The Turkish-Iranian Border in Van Province

This report, produced by BVMN and Ortakça Derneğ as part of the Infrastructuring Nature project funded by the Gerda Henkel Foundation, documents the weaponisation of the natural environment at the Turkish-Iranian border in the province of Van.

Since the 1980s, people fleeing war, conflict and oppression have been crossing the Turkish-Iranian border in the province of Van, guided by facilitators from local Kurdish communities on both sides. It is one of the most dangerous border crossings in the region, with steep mountains, extreme cold and difficult terrain making it a gruelling journey under any circumstances. In recent decades, it has become even more deadly. Walls, ditches, surveillance towers and military outposts have been built across this landscape, funded and driven by both the EU and the Turkish state, turning an already harsh environment into a weaponised one.

We document what this looks like on the ground for people on the move and for the Kurdish border communities who live there and have seen their livelihoods, land and way of life transformed by the militarisation of the landscape around them.

Drawing on field research, satellite imagery and interviews with people on the move and local Kurdish residents, the report covers the following:

• The role of EU border externalisation and Turkish domestic security policy in militarising the Van borderscape

• The physical and digital infrastructures built across the landscape, including walls, ditches and surveillance systems

• The impact on people attempting to cross, including deaths, injuries and pushbacks

• The effects on Kurdish border communities, including the collapse of local livelihoods and intensification of policing