The restoration of the two historic fountains in Ekinözü (Habap-Havav) Village, in the Kovancılar district of Elazığ province, was carried out in August – November 2011. Habap is the village which lawyer Fethiye Çetin has told of in the story of her grandmother in her book ‘Anneannem’ (My Grandmother). Habap iswhere her grandmother was born and lived until she was nine years old. During Armenian times, the village had 250 households ,three churches, a monastery and two fountains.

The fountains were known as the Upper Fountain and the Lower Fountain. An inscription on the Upper Fountain in Armenian indicates the year 1634. Most of these buildings were demolished and the fountains had gotten into an unusable state in the course of time.

The restored Habap Fountains each constitute a unique example of Anatolian and Armenian architecture of fountains with multi-niches. With the wells and complicated water canals that were discovered during the excavation process of the restoration, the fountains carry the traces of a great culture to our day.

The volunteer architects Nihan Sağman, Mehmet Erkök, and Savaş Ekinci, and art historian Özge Altınkaya Erkök designed the project following a field survey conducted from May to September, 2009. The restitution and restoration projects, which were prepared later, were presented to the Diyarbakir Cultural and Natural Heritage Preservation Board. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism agreed to contribute to the restoration project, which received approval from the board in April, 2010. The project was carried out between AugustNovember, 2011, with the contributions of the Hrant Dink Foundation, the Chrest Foundation, the Open Society Foundation, General Energy and private donors.

The restoration had a transformative effect on those living in the village and on the volunteers who came to the village. The village youth took an active role in bringing a structure which represents the history of their locality back to its former state. Young volunteers coming from Turkey, Armenia, and some European countries gave support to the daily activities of the villagers. The volunteers who participated in the restoration project organized games, drawing and painting workshops, especially with children and the youth of the village. At numerous meetings discussions were made about the past and the present of the village, and the traditions that were transferred from the past to the present were remembered.

The opening ceremony, organized on the occasion of the completion of the restoration of these valuable monuments, took place on Friday, November 25th, and was attended by the Elazığ Provincial Administration Secretary General, Nazif Bilginoğlu, the Kovancılar District Governor, Selçuk Aslan, and the Kovancılar Mayor, Bekir Yanılmaz. Women who came to Diyarbakir for a meeting of the KAMER Foundation from all over Turkey, came to Habap Village on Saturday, 26th November, made the second opening festival together with the women of the village. At the festival, women savoured the food they prepared, danced the ‘halay’ nearby the fountain, and promised each other to meet again next year.