Hasankeyf's villagers say the beauty of their home is most  striking at first-light or at sundown, when the historic stone  ruins are reflected crisply in the waters of the river Tigris.

     This is a remote, sparsely populated and, for most of the  year, scorchingly hot corner of southeast Anatolia, where people  live in poverty and seclusion. Over the years, their anger at  the construction of a huge dam which will see Hasankeyf subsumed  by flood waters has turned into sad resignation and quiet  despair.

     Labelled "doomed" in tourist guidebooks, Hasankeyf manages  to attract a certain number of earnest-minded visitors, eager to  see the traces of successive ancient civilizations. Locals sell  them what they can, while they can -- beautiful goat-wool rugs or hand-carved wooden implements -- for a pitifully small sum.

      The Ilisu dam's foreign backers look to have developed cold  feet, stating the dam has failed to meet environmental and  cultural safeguards and have ordered suspension of work while  matters are investigated. But any withdrawal of their support is  unlikely to prevent energy-hungry Turkey from constructing the  dam and a power plant -- part of its sweeping development plan  for the laggard south-east.

     Turkey vowed on Wednesday work would resume next week.

     Opposition to the dam stretches far beyond Anatolia.  Environmentalists argue colossal dam projects such as Ilisu are  a relic of the 1970s and have never proven their worth, causing  catastrophic damage to the natural environment and harming the  ecosystems of downstream states.

     Others question the economic principles of the project --  creating enormous power capacity in an area where there is  little or no industry and to where firms may be reluctant to  relocate.

     The government has pledged to reconstruct the scattered  villages which must make way for the water, and to transport  historical Hasankeyf, once used by the Romans to ward off the  Persians, to another suitable spot.

     In a country dotted with spectacular ancient sites and where  so many civilizations have left their mark, the fight to save  historical ruins in-situ can often be a fruitless one.

     Archaeologists raced against the clock to excavate the  historical mosaics of Zeugma, also in eastern Turkey, in 2000  before it disappeared under flood waters.

     Gazing at the tall stone supports of Hasankeyf's once-mighty  bridge, the fragile stone minaret of its medieval mosque and the  intricate warren of tombs and caves which clings to the cliffs above the river, it is difficult to imagine how this could be recreated anywhere else.

Turks have nicknamed Luis Aragones “dede” or “granddad” since he became Fenerbahce coach last July – at first to convey the respect they’d show a wise and experienced elder, but nowadays to express their fury at a man they view as an incompetent geriatric.

Calls for his resignation have increased since Fenerbahce lost the Turkish Cup to bitter Istanbul rivals Besiktas last week. A victory could have sweetened Aragones’ severance package from his contract, but would no longer have saved his job, Turkish media said.

The 70-year-old Spaniard arrived in Turkey on a high, having just led Spain to victory in Euro 2008, their first major title in 44 years.

But his spell at Fenerbahce has gone from bad to worse. The Istanbul side, Champions League quarter-finalists in 2008, failed to reach the knockout stages of this season's competition and finished bottom of their group with just two points.

With two matches left of the Turkish league, Fenerbahce languish in 5th, 10 points behind leaders Besiktas, and heading for their lowest league finish since 2003.

Aragones’ gruff manner and often lethargic mood pitchside have won him few friends in Turkey.

Club president Aziz Yildirim has acknowledged fans' despair and pledged sweeping changes to restore the team’s spirit, and get them back into the Champions League. Aragones’ fate has not yet been officially announced but among rumoured replacements are former coach Christoph Daum, who won two league titles with the club.

PHOTO: Fenerbahce's Spanish coach Luis Aragones waits for the start of their Turkish Cup final against Besiktas at the Ataturk stadium in Izmir, western Turkey, May 13, 2009. REUTERS/ Murad Sezer

Geert Wilders doesn't do things by halves. The anti-Koran film that this far-right politician has been working on in recent months will be finished very soon. He doesn't know if any Dutch broadcaster will touch it because of the controversy it has already stirred up. So he has arranged to have "Fitna" put out as a webcast as well. That should ensure that the film can be seen all around the world and not just in the Netherlands.

"It is very good news," Wilders told us , adding that the film would "definitely be finished this week." After that, he has to negotiate with Dutch television programmes to see who -- if any -- will broadcast it. Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende appealed last month for restraint over the film and Iran has urged the Netherlands to prevent this "provocative and satanic act on the basis of European Convention on Human Rights."

The Dutch foreign and justice ministers met Wilders on Wednesday to warn him of the possible consequences of showing his film, including possible charges against him for hate speech. According to the Volkskrant daily and NOS television, Wilders called the meeting "one hour of pure intimidation" and left it determined to work "full speed ahead" on his project.

Nobody has yet seen a 15-minute film about the Koran, which Wilders calls a fascist book, but it has already led to anti-Dutch protests and outraged Muslims worldwide. Clips purporting to be his film have appeared on YouTube, prompting a blockage in access to the popular site in Pakistan that temporarily closed it down worldwide.

A network of Muslim communities in the Netherlands is planning to hold an "open mosque day" around the country when the film is screened to appeal for calm and dialogue. Politicians and celebrities have taken out full-page newspaper adverts to pledge their commitment to tolerance and social harmony.

A survey by TNS Nipo institute last December found two-thirds of those polled thought the film was a bad idea and three-quarters believed the film could sour relations between Muslims and non-Muslims.

Some people say the media should ignore politicians like Wilders and not give him a platform to spread his views. But he can use the Internet to broadcast his film directly to anyone who clicks on the site. What do you think is the best way for the media to deal with a story like this?